Moments With Family
by WrittenFromInside
Summary: A series of stories about Welkin, Alicia and their family after the war.
1. Playing In The Snow

**Playing In The Snow**

The air outside in the Gallian town of Bruhl was exceptionally chilly during this winter. Everyone from the townsfolk to the Town Watch was wearing winter clothing to stay warm.

The local radio station had predicted earlier that morning that there might be a snowstorm by the time night arrived. With this in mind everyone was preparing for a long evening which included everything from gathering firewood for fireplaces to fresh bread.

Alicia Gunther was in the middle of getting the last orders of bread ready for the remaining customers of that day. It was only 5 minutes away from closing time and was only a matter of time before she could close shop and go home to Welkin, her husband and prepare for a long earned night of rest. "Thanks for shopping here, be sure to stay safe during the snowstorm." Alicia said as the last customer walked away with bag full of bread.

"Mama, is it almost time to close shop? I'm starting to feel really cold." Isara Gunther, Welkin's and Alicia's adorable little daughter, asked her mother. She was practically starting to shiver a little!

Alicia bent down so she could talk to her daughter at a closer height. "Yes. I just finished serving the last customer. Are you ready to go home?" Alicia gently replied to Isara.

"YES! I can't wait to try hot cocoa when I get home! Papa said it would make you feel really warm inside!" replied an excited Isara. She was practically jumping up and down.

Alicia smiled gently at her daughter's excitement as she locked up the store for the night. Afterwards, She held onto Isara's hand as they walked home together.

"Hey, Mama, is it really going to snow tonight?" Isara asked her mother curiously.

"It's supposed to, but it might not." Alicia replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, if it really does happen, I was really hoping we could all play together tomorrow. I've always wanted to play in snow!" Isara replied. She seemed really intent on wanting to do so.

Alicia could only respond with a warm reply, "Of course, It's a promise." She replied.

Isara looked very happy and almost energetic, "Thank you Mama!" she squealed. She then proceeded to hug her mother. "I love you." Isara said to her mother.

Alicia nearly got teary eyed when she said that. Holding in her emotions she replied gently "Mama loves you too, Isara."

—

"We're home!" Alicia said as she walked through the door.

"Hey! How was business today?" Welkin asked as he hugged his wife.

"Very busy! I'm pretty sure everyone and every family in town ordered some bread!" Alicia replied happily and with a little exhaustion in her voice.

"Papa!" squealed Isara as she embraced Welkin.

"Hey Isara! Did you help a lot at the Bakery today?" Welkin asked his daughter.

"Yep! Lots and lots but I'm really, really cold." Isara replied.

"Well, I just got the thing for that! You're want to try some hot cocoa? I'm just about finished with the first batch!" Welkin asked with excitement.

"Yes please!" Isara replied with excitement in her eyes.

"All right, let me get it ready!" Welkin stated as he went into the kitchen and prepared to pour the first cup.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, how was your day Welkin?" Alicia asked her husband.

"It was really long and wonderful. The students we're all asking if they were really going to see snow tomorrow." Welkin responded. "But, it's still rather hard to get through winter, Nature's animals and bugs are always hibernating this time of year." Welkin went on to say.

"Oh, you and your obsession with nature." Alicia responded holding in the urge to giggle.

"It's so delicious!" Isara squealed as she sipped the Hot Cocoa for the first time.

"Is it good, Isara? I tried my hardest to make it as best as I can." Welkin asked.

"Yes, I like it a lot Papa!" Isara replied happily.

Alicia and Welkin both looked with warm and gentle smiles as they looked at their daughter enjoying the Hot Cocoa.

"Oh, that reminds me! Papa, can we play together tomorrow if it snows? I've always wanted to play in it! asked Isara energetically.

"Of course! We'll all play as a family! Right Alicia?" Welkin responded.

"Yeah, I already promised Isara, we would do so if it does snow. So a promise is a promise!" Alicia responded with a thumbs up.

"Great, I'll make sure to make some hot cocoa after we're done playing too!" said Welkin.

"Hey, Mama, how about you try some hot cocoa? It's really good! Isara asked her mother.

Alicia nodded her head in response. "Of course I'd like to try some. Welkin is there any left?"

"There's plenty left." Welkin replied gently.

"Great! I'll be sure to make dinner first. I bet my family is really hungry by now."

 _Guuuu~_

Just then Isara's stomach started to growl. "Yes! Very hungry!" Isara replied rubbing her tummy.

"Well I guess it's time to for me to get to work then!" Alicia responded.

Soon after making and eating a very satisfying dinner with family. Alicia tried the hot cocoa and was very impressed with Welkin's ability to make it. As it tasted really good.

"This was really good Welkin! I could sell this at the Bakery!" Alicia said excitedly. "You can if you want if you want to. I bet it would sell really well during winter." Welkin replied.

"Of course it will! But you'll have to teach me first!" Alicia responded.

"Yeah, That too." Welkin replied.

The family then spent the rest of dinner bonding together.

—

That night, after a very pleasant dinner. Alicia tucked Isara into her bed. "Are you warm?" Alicia asked gently. "Yes. My bed is so warm and toasty tonight." Isara calmly responded.

"Goodnight, Isara" Alicia said. "Goodnight, Mama" Isara sleepily replied as she yawned. Alicia smiled gently as she closed the door to her daughter's bedroom.

She then walked to her own bedroom with Welkin, passing by Hans napping in the hallway. Both Alicia and Welkin prepared for a long winters rest.

Meanwhile outside, snow started to gently fall from the grayish sky one by one.

—

The next morning, Isara woke up. She yawned and stretched a bit before getting out of bed to look outside her bedroom window. She gasped when she looked outside, the ground was all white. The sky was a beautiful blue with gray clouds here and there.

Isara couldn't hold her excitement anymore. She quickly ran to her parents room to tell them all about it.

"Papa! Mama! It snowed! It snowed! It's looks so beautiful outside!" squealed Isara as she entered her parents room. Welkin and Alicia simply moaned in their sleep. Apparently, they had what could only be described as a good night's rest.

Isara simply frowned a bit and she jumped on the bed and started to shake their bodies.

"Mama! Papa! Wake up! You promised!" Isara said quite loudly.

The two parents quickly woke up and embraced their daughter.

"Good morning Isara." Alicia said hugging her daughter.

"You're awfully cheerful today. Did it snow?" Welkin asked Isara half awake and rubbing one of his eyes.

"Yes it did Papa!" Isara squealed in a very joyful matter. "It's looks so pretty! Can I show you please?" Isara asked.

"Of course." Alicia said gently to Isara.

Alicia and Welkin got up from bed and their daughter lead them to her bedroom window.

"W-wow…She wasn't kidding." Alicia said looking out her daughter's window.

"Amazing! The town of Bruhl hasn't seen snow like this since I was a child!" Welkin responded with an almost childlike enthusiasm.

Alicia herself started feeling pretty nostalgic about it when she heard what Welkin had to say. She just remembered that the orphanage she grew up in had a snow day like this once. She recalled it as one of the more happier moments in her childhood.

"Isara, once we're done having breakfast we'll go play in the snow. Okay?" Alicia said gently to her daughter.

"Okay, Mama." Isara said smiling.

Alicia quickly went to work making breakfast for her family.

"Papa, How do you make snow angels?" Isara asked her father curiously.

"I'll teach you once we get outside." Welkin said patting her daughters head gently.

"Alright, you two, breakfast is ready!" Alicia said.

The family ate their meals. Isara, despite enjoying her mama's bread couldn't hide her excitement about playing in the snow. Alicia looked gently at her daughter. She had a feeling today was going to be very memorable.

Afterwards, Alicia quickly got to bundling up her daughter in some rather cute winter clothes. She wore a thick light blue jacket and boots with a matching pink winter hat, scarf and ear muffs.

"You ready to have fun Isara?" Alicia asked her daughter confidently.

"Yes Mama!" Isara responded with a lot of energy

Alicia and Welkin opened the door and a rather chill cold breeze greeted them as soon as they did.

Isara quickly ran out the door and jumped into the snow rolling all around in it.

"It's cold yet it's so soft!" Isara squealed.

Alicia could only look with the most cheeriest expression. Seeing her daughter this happy and enjoying life this much made her feel very good.

Welkin quickly got on the snow covered ground and showed Isara how to make a snow angel. Soon she was making one herself.

"It's so much fun to do!" Isara squealed as she made countless snow angels all around the yard near their home.

"Hey Isara, Do you wanna make a snowman?" Alicia asked her daughter.

Isara practically squealed in delight upon being asked.

"Yes please Mama! Teach me!" Isara replied.

Alicia quickly got to work rolling up the snow to build the body. She then got two sticks from a nearby tree and stuck them on as arms.

"How do we make a face?" Isara asked.

"Just a moment." Alicia said gently.

She quickly got a bunch of spare buttons from inside and made a happy face with them on the Snowman's head.

Isara looked at it with amazement and soon asked "What about a hat for Mr. Snowman?"

"I know just the thing!" Welkin said as he ran inside and got something he hadn't used in ages.

He came out with his old hat from his military uniform during the war with the Empire.

"There, that should do it!" Welkin said proudly.

Alicia looked at it and had to giggle a little bit. It was cute seeing Welkin use part of his old military uniform for the snowman.

"A-a-a-Achoo!" Isara sneezed. It was clear the cold was getting to her a bit.

"How about you go inside for now Isara, We'll make you some hot cocoa when we come in. We wouldn't want you catching a cold." Alicia said kindly to her daughter.

"Okay Mama." Isara said and went inside.

"It really brings back memories doesn't it?" Welkin said standing next to Alicia.

"It does. Making that Snowman with Isara was really something else. When I was kid growing up in that orphanage, It snowed like this once. Even though I was all alone there, one of the few times I really felt truly happy there was when I got to make a snowman. For once, at that point in my life I truly felt at peace. Now I got to do it again after all these years but this time it was with our family." Alicia said almost on the verge of tears.

Welkin smiled and embraced Alicia, hugging her. "Yeah, Isara looked so happy when we were playing with her. I think you truly gave her a memory that she will look back on with fondness." Welkin gently said to Alicia.

"Oh Welkin…I love you."

"I love you too, Alicia."

Welkin and Alicia then shared a kiss.

"Mama, Papa, can we make some hot cocoa now?" asked Isara innocently interrupting the kiss between her parents.

"Sure. Be right there Isara." Alicia replied.

"Don't forget your promise Welkin. You're going to teach me how to make hot cocoa." Alicia said to her husband.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'll guide you through the whole process." Welkin said happily.

The two then went back inside their home and prepared a wonderful batch of hot cocoa they would all share together.


	2. Thunder & Lighting

**Author's Note:** I just got my first review after finishing this chapter. I got to say I'm really pleased that people are enjoying this. I'm planning on doing at least 10 chapters for now. Depending on the response I get I might do more. I have a lot of ideas in my head about stuff like this.

 **Thunder & Lightning**

It was a particular rainy day in Bruhl. However, the clouds were quite a darkish grey than it was usually during rainy days. According to the weather report broadcast via radio, there was a possibility of there being a thunderstorm in the evening.

" _All citizens within the aforementioned areas are recommend to stay indoors for safety purposes during the storm until all is said and done. Additionally the following areas of Gallia are on flood watch until further notice…"_

The radio in the Gunther household was currently on, reporting on the weather. Alicia had closed the bakery shop she owned earlier in the day due to the rainstorm much to her disappointment. But she became less concerned about that when she noticed something worrisome in her home.

Isara was sitting on the floor listening to the radio while Welkin was in a chair nearby reading a book on nature. It seemed normal at first glance but Isara's body language made her seem to appear very anxious and fearful. Slightly worried about her daughter, Alicia decided to ask her something.

"Is everything okay, dear?" Alicia asked with a little concern in her voice.

"Ummm….Yes, everything's a-okay Mama." Isara said hesitantly. She seemed to be putting on a face to try and hide something.

Alicia felt like something was wrong, like something was bothering her daughter that made her seem anxious.

"Isara, are you worried about the thunderstorm?" Alicia asked her daughter.

Isara stood there for a few seconds. She knew deep down she was scared. But for some reason she had a hard time expressing this to her mother.

"A-a little bit…" Isara replied.

At this point Welkin looked up from reading. He himself was starting to worry about his little girl. But he felt it might be alright. He had been through previous thunderstorms in Bruhl when he was a child and they were nothing bad per say. It was just hard to sleep during those nights.

Isara soon became a little more anxious and decided to go to her bedroom.

"I-Isara?" Alicia said. She was starting to get concerned for her.

Welkin just sat up from his chair and approached Alicia.

"Is everything alright?" asked Welkin.

"Yeah, It's just I've never seen Isara like this before." Alicia replied.

"I'm sure she's alright but I'll be sure to talk to her just to make sure she's okay." Welkin said trying to comfort his wife.

"I hope so." Alicia said still concerned about Isara.

Welkin then turned off the radio and went into Isara's room.

"Hey, is everything alright? You're making Mom a little worried about you." Welkin asked Isara who was now laying in her bed. Welkin noticed her looking out the window. It was clear to him that the storm seemed to be on her mind.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Isara said trying her best not to looked scared.

"Well…if you need anything at all tonight, don't be afraid to come into our room. Make sure to brush your teeth before you go to sleep alright?" Welkin said very gently.

"Okay Papa" Isara replied she seemed to seem slightly better but still quite anxious.

—

Later that night the storm outside was starting to begin. The rain began to pour at a very fast rate, it was windy to the point of being audible. It was harrowing sounding too.

Isara was in her bed, but she felt very scared. The wind was so loud she couldn't drift off to sleep peacefully like she usually would.

Eventually she saw flickering white flashes outside her window. Isara became alert of her surroundings, being alone in her dark bedroom made her feel on edge.

 _ **BOOM!**_

The thunder boomed loudly and lasted about 3 seconds. Enough to startle the living daylights out of poor Isara. At this point Isara was almost in tears. She felt increasingly scared and her little heart started to beat faster.

 _ **BOOOOM!**_

This time the thunder was even louder. Isara got under her blanket and started to shake a little. She was clearly frightened of the storm. At that point Isara remembered something that Welkin had said to her earlier.

" _If you need anything at all tonight, don't be afraid to come into our room."_

Isara took a deep breath, grabbed her small teddy bear that stood on her bedside and made her way out of her bedroom.

The hallway looked darker than usual as Isara walked gently and carefully to the door of her parents room.

 _ **BOOOOOOOOM!**_

It was so loud this time that Isara started to cry and ran quickly as she could to the door clutching her teddy bear.

—

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Alicia heard doorknocks. She was having a hard time sleeping because of the storm in addition to thinking about Isara. Welkin was beside her trying to fall asleep to no avail at all.

"Welkin, I think someones at the door." Alicia said.

Welkin started to yawn a bit. It looked like he was finally about to doze off.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Alicia sighed and got up from her bed and opened the door.

In front of her stood Isara, clutching her teddy bear with tears rolling down her eyes.

Alicia absolutely concerned at this point kneeled down on her knees and began to comfort her daughter.

"What's wrong Isara? You're starting to scare me. " Alicia said this time with worry in her voice.

"Mama…I'm really scared…This storm is scary…I don't want our home to catch on fire." Isara weeped clutching her teddy bear even more.

Suddenly it all made sense for Alicia. Earlier in the day the radio news had said to stay indoors during lighting but there was a small chance that lighting could strike a home and it could cause a fire. Isara must've heard this and got worried.

Alicia hugged her daughter tightly. She had been concerned over nothing serious. "It's all alright Isara, lighting doesn't strike near towns or homes. It strikes in plain fields where there's no one around. You're going to be safe. The storm will be over by morning." Alicia said comforting her daughter with reassurance of her safety.

Isara was starting to feel a little bit better. "O-okay Mama" Isara replied but she was still a little anxious.

Welkin had been listening the whole time. He became wide awake the minute he saw Isara frightened and scared in front of her mother. He got out of bed and comforted Isara as well.

"If you're still worried, you can sleep with us tonight." Welkin said to Isara gently and calm.

At that point Isara began to lighten up.

"Really? I can Papa!?" Isara said almost squealing.

"Of course. We'll protect you as a family. Right Alicia?" Welkin said with gentleness and confidence in his voice.

"Yes, of course we will." Alicia said gently nodding her head in agreement.

Isara quickly got into her parents bed. It was so big due to it being made for two people.

Isara wouldn't let go of her mother initially as she was still quite shaken from the thunder. But soon began to calm down and eventually drifted to sleep.

Alicia laid to the left side of the bed while Welkin laid on the right. Isara now holding her teddy bear in one arm laid in the center of the bed huddling close to her parents. Isara seemed so calm and peaceful. Welkin and Alicia couldn't help but notice how adorable their daughter was when sleeping.

Alicia gently caressed her daughter's hair, a lush light brown just like hers.

"She's so adorable isn't she?" Alicia said.

"Yeah, she has her mother's eyes and hair." Welkin said calmly.

"And her father's gentle kind-hearted personality." Alicia continued.

The two of them soon began to fall asleep as well despite the loud weather outside.

—

The next morning was quite a site to behold outside. It was bright and sunny. There wasn't even a cloud to be seen in the blueish sky that presided over the town of Bruhl. You've never would've guessed there was even a storm at all last night.

Isara was still asleep in her parents bed, softly breathing in and out as she slept.

Alicia couldn't help but notice how calm and peaceful her daughter seemed. She wanted to let this continue until she woke up on her own. But it was almost time for breakfast.

"Isara, it's time to wake up." Alicia gently said rocking her daughters body just the slightest bit.

*Yawwnnn*

Isara woke up rubbing both her eyes and stretching.

"Good morning Mama." Isara said half-awake.

"Are you hungry? It's almost time for breakfast." Alicia asked her daughter.

"Yes Mama, I am." Isara replied now slightly energetic.

Alicia quickly picked up her daughter and soon got her seated at the kitchen table.

"Everything all alright Isara? Did you sleep well?" Welkin asked his daughter sitting next to him.

"Yep. I feel really happy today!" Isara responded cheerfully.

"That's great to hear." Welkin replied gently rubbing the top of Isara's head.

It had been a rough previous night but Alicia looked at her daughter with relief. She appeared safe and happy without a worry in the world as young children should be. Continuing to enjoy life to the fullest.


	3. A Trip To The Movies

**A Trip To The Movies**

It was peaceful day in Bruhl as a train left the local station for the capital city of Gallia. The seats were packed with people commuting to their jobs and local residents looking forward to a nice weekend out on the town.

Alicia, Welkin and their daughter Isara were among them. They were on their way for something rather unique that they hadn't done in a while, visiting the movie theatre. Welkin and Alicia had both been there at various times when they were young but it was the first time they were bringing Isara with them.

Isara looked excitedly out the window viewing the beautiful landscape passing before her.

"Isara, please sit down, we're almost there." Alicia said calmly to her daughter.

"Okay, Mama." Isara complied sitting next to her mother. Welkin sat across from them.

"Are you looking forward to going to the movies for the first time?" Welkin asked gently to Isara.

"Yep. A lot." Isara responded nodding her head up and down.

The train then came to full stop. The various passengers starting to leave the train one by one at a time. "Isara, it's going to be very crowded outside and I don't want you to get lost. Be sure to hold on to Mama's hand okay." Alicia explained to Isara.

"I understand Mama." Isara responded already holding onto her mother's hand.

—

After getting out of the station, the family of 3 walked together, fortunately, the movie theatre was only 1 block away so it was very brief walk.

They entered the building and Welkin and Alicia quickly got to looking at the films playing to find one suitable for their little daughter.

Some of the films, though not suitable for Isara's age, interested both Alicia and Welkin and they thought about seeing some of them if they could get a babysitter for Isara someday.

Eventually they decided on seeing Pinocchio. An animated cartoon film from America based on an Italian children's book. Welkin himself was curious as to how the film was accurate or even different from the source material having read it as a child.

"I hope it's good. Though it's been a while since I read the original story so it might be tough to spot all the differences from the book." Welkin said as he was buying the tickets.

"And here I thought you were only interested in just nature." Alicia replied while holding Isara's hand.

After buying the tickets, the clerk stated the popcorn was free if you had proof of being previously been in the Military.

Welkin and Alicia almost decided against it but wound up choosing to do so.

Welkin showed the clerk his military ID card that he kept on him after the war ended as sort of a keepsake.

The clerk simply responded with a "Thank you for your service to our nation Mr. Gunther." in the most cliched way possible while Isara went to get the largest bag size possible available at the snack bar and filled it up with popcorn.

"Geez, that was embarrassing." Welkin said as they headed to the screening room.

"I know. But still it was nice of the clerk to say that." Alicia responded.

They entered the darkened theatre. The projector was starting to be prepared while the audience started to settle into their seats.

Alicia, Welkin & Isara found seats practically in the center of the theatre. Isara started to gobble up the popcorn taking huge handfuls and stuffing them into her mouth. Even when she did stuff like this was innocently adorable. "Please don't eat too much Isara, I don't want you getting a tummy ache." Alicia said to her daughter gently.

Isara just kept eating the popcorn, she clearly liked it a lot. It was one of the few times she didn't listen to her parents.

"Isara, make sure you share some popcorn with Mama & Papa okay?" Welkin said to Isara.

"Okay, understood" Isara replied and gave the bag of popcorn to Alicia.

"Good job, Welkin." Alicia whispered to her husband.

Soon after that the movie began. Isara just looked on with curiosity and excitement.

Alicia and Welkin observed Isara reacting to seeing a movie for the first time with gentle smiles and soon turned their attention to the movie itself.

—

The film was now at the halfway point and Welkin in particular was pretty impressed with what he'd seen. It was nothing like the original book at all yet it was compelling, for starters, the main character Pinocchio is a gentle kind hearted boy instead of an annoying troublemaker like in the book. There was also an original character named Jiminy Cricket with his gentle but old sounding speaking voice and personality made him a very interesting character.

Alicia actually whispered to Welkin that the character reminded her of him but older sounding. Welkin didn't know how to respond to that, being compared to a singing cricket made him feel a little embarrassed inside. Regardless, all three were enjoying the film especially Isara.

Meanwhile, in the film, Pinocchio had just ventured into the ocean to find a whale who had swallowed his father whole. Pinocchio, just being a wooden puppet could easily swim and breathe underwater. While it was initially cute the whale soon appeared and it really was rather really well drawn, in fact Welkin, being an amateur artist himself, was impressed with artists ability to capture all the details of the whale, particularly it's huge mouth as it opened! But it was clearly scaring Isara a little bit.

"Don't be scared Isara, it's just a movie." Alicia whispered gently to her daughter.

—

The film had reached it's conclusion of Pinocchio realizing his dream of being a real boy after saving his father from the whale. After the movie ended a few people in the theatre actually applauded including Isara who really enjoyed her first movie. The audience was now getting up, satisfied from watching a really great compelling movie.

"That was really fun! Can we go to the movies again someday Papa?" Isara squealed holding both her mother and father's hands as they walked back to the train station together.

"Of course Isara." replied Welkin in a gentle voice.

As the train left for Bruhl, Isara became quite tired and was soon napping in Alicia's lap.

The night sky was beautiful with bright stars and a full moon that could be seen outside the train window.

"That really was a great movie, I thought it was better than the original book." Alicia said to Welkin.

"I thought so as well I have to admit." Welkin said agreeing with Alicia. "Did you ever read the original book as a child?" Welkin then asked his wife curiously.

"Well…When I grew up in the orphanage a lot of the kids were quite lonely and sad. One of the adults would sometimes read children's books at night just to try and cheer them up. One of them was Pinocchio." Alicia explained to Welkin.

"I see." Welkin replied.

"Though as I got older, the adult that would read those books to the kids soon left the orphanage. A lot of the kids were actually crying when he left. I felt so bad for the younger ones, I actually decided to read them the books every night in place of the adult." Alicia further explained to Welkin.

"That's so sweet of you." Welkin said gently.

"I know. Even though I felt all alone in the orphanage, I would always cheer up a little when I did that." Alicia said feeling nostalgic.

"You and I should really consider reading bedtime stories to Isara sometime." Welkin said to Alicia.

"Yeah, we really should." Alicia replied looking down at her daughter now sleeping on her lap.

Isara soon started to move a bit as she began to wake up.

"Hey, Isara, did you have a good nap?" Alicia asked her daughter.

"Yep. I did." Isara responded happily.

Isara soon looked outside the train window.

"It's so pretty outside…Is that the moon!?" Isara squealed with curiosity.

Welkin soon went over the window and observed the night sky alongside his daughter.

"Yep. That's the moon. It's beautiful isn't it?" Welkin said to Isara.

"It sure is! There's also so many stars out too!" Isara replied with curiosity and deep interest.

Welkin and Isara continued to look outside the window observing and commenting on everything they saw. Alicia soon joined in with them. The family continued their bonding together as the train traveled through the night into Bruhl.

—

The train soon came to a stop. It had finally arrived at the local station in Bruhl. They soon left the station together with Welkin carrying Isara on his back as they walked home.

It had been a long day. Having gone to the movies and observing the night sky on the way back home, Welkin, Alicia & Isara were all exhausted but satisfied. Their day out as a family had been a wonderful experience and they hoped to continue spending as much time with their precious daughter as possible.


	4. Drawing With Papa

**Author's Note:** I apologize if this chapter is rather short. I'm currently working on the next chapter to make sure it's as good as possible (and cute/adorable).

 **Drawing With Papa**

It was a rather dull rainy afternoon in Bruhl, normally kids who would be playing in Lion's Paw Meadow were now staying indoors for the day. The few that were actually outside had umbrellas just to go out and buy some bread from Alicia's Bakery and get back indoors.

Welkin would normally be teaching at the local school on a day like this, but had decided to take one day off just to spend time with his daughter. Unfortunately, it was raining on the day he choose to do so. So they had to stay home instead.

Welkin was starting to feel bored and on the verge of sleep when he decided to brush up on his drawing and sketching. He had been wanting to do so again after going to see Pinocchio with Alicia and Isara at the movie theatre in Randgriz, the capital city of Gallia.

Welkin got his sketchbook and pencils out, he had decided to draw the vase of flowers that was on the kitchen table.

Welkin quickly became focused on it, sketching the shapes and lines that gave the flowers and vase its unique look, as well as drawing the details of the flowers.

"Papa?" Isara said from the corner of the kitchen entrance. Welkin turned around, his daughter looked rather bored and tired. She had been rather sad that they couldn't go out the meadow and play together.

"Is something the matter Isara?" Welkin asked gently.

"Can I draw with you Papa?" Isara asked her father.

Welkin couldn't help but smile. He always wanted to teach Isara how to draw but he never found the right time to do so.

"Of course you can, here, have a seat." Welkin replied.

Isara smiled happily as she quickly got up and sat next to her father.

"Now first you want to pick a pencil to use." Welkin instructed Isara.

Isara quickly picked up a pencil. "Now what Papa?" Isara asked with curiosity.

Welkin then taught Isara how to draw basic shapes such as squares, circle and triangles as well as lines. Then he showed her how to use those basic shapes to draw pictures and objects such as flowers.

Isara figured it out rather quickly much to Welkin's surprise. He smiled noticing that his daughter was really enjoying herself. Alicia wasn't kidding when she told him that Isara had his personality.

"All done Papa!" Isara squealed as she showed Welkin her picture of a flower.

It was rather crudely drawn since it was Isara's first time drawing and didn't really compare to Welkin's years of experience. But it was impressive for a 4-year old just now learning how to draw.

Welkin just smiled. "This is good, Isara! What are you going to draw next?" Welkin asked his daughter trying to encourage her.

Isara just looked at Welkin and began to think long and hard about what she was going to do next.

"May I borrow these Papa?" Isara asked holding a pencil and a blank sheet of paper.

"Of course Isara. Take your time." Welkin said gently to Isara.

Isara just smiled and proceeded to hug her father.

"I love you Papa." Isara said gently and happily.

Welkin could only smile and embrace Isara. "Papa loves you too Isara."

Isara then retreated to her room with the pencil and paper.

—

"I'm home! There weren't many customers today sadly." Alicia finally said opening the front door and unfolding her umbrella from the rain.

Welkin was sitting at the kitchen table sketching away with his pencil.

"You sure haven't done that in a while." Alicia said observing Welkin.

"Yeah, Isara and I were drawing earlier together in the day. She seemed really happy doing it too. Welkin replied.

"Is that so? That's wonderful to hear!" Alicia said warmly.

"Here's a drawing she did of a flower." Welkin said as he show Alicia the drawing Isara did.

Alicia looked at the happily. Her little girl was starting to become an artist just her father.

"Where is she now?" Alicia then asked Welkin.

"She's in her room." Welkin then replied.

Just then the door to Isara's room opened. Isara looked really happy but nervous. She had worked really hard on this picture she had drew and hope her Mama and Papa would like it. She soon walked into the kitchen.

"Isara! How is everything? I heard you and Papa were drawing earlier." Alicia said noticing her daughter in the kitchen.

Isara didn't respond. She quickly showed Alicia the drawing she worked hard on. "I drew you something." Isara said to both her parents.

Alicia and Welkin looked at the picture, it was a drawing of 3 stick figure people holding hands of what appeared to be in a meadow.

"It's you, Papa and me in the meadow playing to together." Isara explained innocently.

Alicia just looked at the picture and asked her "Is this for us, Isara?".

"Yep! Do you like it?" Isara asked her mother.

Alicia quickly got on her knees and hugged her daughter.

"I love it! Thank you very much Isara." Alicia warmly said to her daughter.

"Your welcome Mama!" Isara squealed happily hugging her mother back.

"Did you enjoy drawing today Isara?" Welkin then asked Isara.

"Yep! Very much can we do it again someday?" Isara asked her father.

"Or course we can." Welkin responded hugging his daughter as well.

"Papa, Mama, when I grow up, I want to be an artist!" Isara then said to her parents excitedly.

Alicia and Welkin looked at their daughter with warmth yet surprise. They had no idea that Isara had already made such a decision.

—

That night, Welkin and Alicia were in the kitchen as Isara slept in her bedroom. It was clear they were making plans for an upcoming event.

"I can't believe Isara's going to be 5 in one week." Alicia said warmly.

"Have you sent out all the invitations yet for the party? asked Welkin.

"Yep. I even invited Marina and Captain Varrot" Alicia responded.

Welkin was surprised to find out that she had invited Marina Wulfstan. She always seemed so emotionally distant from everyone during the war, almost like a lone wolf. If she actually did come he hoped she and Isara would get along well.

"Anyone else I should know about?" Welkin asked.

"Well I also invited Rosie, Largo, Leon, Kreis & Zaka" Alicia responded.

"I see. Well I hope everyone can make it." Welkin responded. He was really looking forward to giving Isara a wonderful birthday party that she would remember. They had celebrated Isara's birthday before but only as a family. But this was the first time they were inviting friends and he was hoping to see everyone again.

"Have you decided what kind of present we're going to give Isara in one week?" Welkin then asked.

"Yes, I have. I'm going out to buy it tomorrow, I hope she really likes it." Alicia responded.

Welkin and Alicia continued to talk about and make the plans for next week. Welkin and Isara had a great day bonding together through drawing. The picture that Isara had drawn was now framed on the wall above the kitchen oven. A constant yet happy reminder of the wonderful family that Welkin and Alicia had created together.


	5. Birthday Party

**Author's Note:** This one I'm particularly proud of. Hope everyone enjoys it!

 **Birthday Party**

In a rather secluded wooden cabin home in the mountains, Marina, a well-known sniper from the Gallian war was checking her mail. It was a rather rare occurrence since she rarely got mail from anyone due to her persistence on living alone.

"Not much here to read let alone care about…" Marina said to herself. She would've left it there but one letter then got her sincere attention. It was addressed to her from Alicia and Welkin. She was almost curious as to why they would send her a letter. Marina wasn't really close to anyone during those days in the war with the Empire, However she did always respected Welkin's leadership and Alicia was always kind to her. She even managed to have a brief conversation with her, a rare moment where she was actually social with someone.

Marina thought about throwing it away, but something deep inside made her not want to. Despite being anti-social and not wanting to get close to anyone, she was slowly becoming lonely inside, she had felt this way a little bit during her teenage years but had gotten over it. But it was back and this time it stayed and it was starting to eat away at her. Marina wasn't really half-aware of it but she was starting to fall into a deep depression to the point where she couldn't hunt very well sometimes much to her disgust.

Slowly she choose to open the letter Welkin and Alicia had sent and realized it was more than just a letter, she began to read it.

 _Dear Marina Wulfstan,_

 _I hope you've been doing well since the war ended. I'm not sure if you're interested but our daughter Isara is turning 5 and we're having a party to celebrate with a few of our comrades. I know you weren't really close with anyone unless of course you count Hans, but I'm hoping to know if you would like to come. I understand you're not really social but the invatation is there if you want it._

 _Regards,_

 _Alicia & Welkin Gunther_

Marina read the letter and noticed that a postcard was included in the letter. It was picture of Alicia, Welkin and their daughter in front of a fireplace. Marina just looked at it and took a deep breath.

"Maybe, maybe just this once, I'll do it." Marina thought.

 _Guuuu~_

Marina then heard a growling noise. She looked around and noticed her pet fox that she had adopted was looking at her with quite a hungry face.

"I'll feed you soon, okay." Marina responded gently to her pet. Despite having a cold personality, she really did love cute little animals despite being a hunter.

As she fed her pet fox a decent meal, she finally decided on going to the party.

"Guess I'll have to go get a present." Marina said to herself slightly smiling a little.

—

"Mama, when's everyone coming?" Isara asked her mother.

"Everyone should be here in about an hour Isara." Alicia responded to her daughter. She was busy setting up the living room and kitchen for the party which, of course, included fresh baked bread. She was hoping at least everyone would come, Zaka had to cancel due to personal reasons but had sent his regards to Isara.

"Welkin, when you're finished with the donkey drawing, could you help me hang this up please?" Alicia asked her husband holding a homemade "Happy Birthday Isara" banner in the living room.

"Sure, Alicia." Welkin said, putting down his pencil and proceeded to help Alicia hang up the banner.

Meanwhile, Hans, the Gunther family pet pig, was sleeping peacefully on the kitchen floor.

Suddenly there was knock at the front door. Much to the surprise of both Alicia and Welkin.

"They're here!" Isara squealed, she had never knew or met her parents friends before but she was excited to have people celebrate her birthday with her. She quickly ran to the door and opened it.

"Hello there!" Isara said to the guest in front of her.

"H-happy birthday…Isara." Marina said nervously but kindly, she held a present in her left hand wrapped in blue and pink paper with a green ribbon. She was trying really hard to be social but it felt like an uphill battle. She really wasn't used to this.

"M-Marina!? I didn't knew you would actually come!" Alicia said shocked.

"Hello Alicia, Hello Welkin. Where should I put the present?" asked Marina.

"Oh, right here." Alicia said as she directed Marina to a small table in the living room.

"Wow, you're here an hour early. How've you been?" Welkin said.

"I-I am?" said Marina almost surprised.

"Wait, where's Hans?" Marina asked trying to change the subject.

"Sleeping right next to you on the kitchen floor." Welkin said almost chuckling.

Marina quickly looked down and poked Hans a little.

"Hey, Hans, do you remember me?" Marina asked the pig in a gentle and friendly matter.

Hans quickly woke up and embraced Marina.

"Heh, I missed you too Hans." Marina said hugging Hans.

"So, Marina, how's everything been? Do you enjoy living in the cabin out in the mountains?" Alicia asked Marina.

Something emotional in Marina almost awoke inside of her. It practically took everything in her to hold back her emotions.

"Everything…is fine. I've been alright." Marina responded but her facial expression told a different story.

Welkin had noticed this and really wanted to ask her about it but decided not to until afterwards. It was his daughter's birthday today and he wanted to be able it enjoy it with her and everyone else first and foremost.

—

More knocks on the door were soon heard afterwards, Welkin went to the door this time and opened it.

"Leon! Kreis!" Welkin said.

"Hey bro! Long time no see!" Leon said in his typical energetic tone.

"Hello Welkin. It's really been a while." Kreis said.

"It's great to see you two again!" Welkin said cheerfully.

"Hey, bro, I hope you like the present we got for Isara! Kreis and I worked around the clock on it!" Leon said very excited this time around.

"Yeah, it was crazy, you wouldn't even let me leave to use the bathroom! We had to pee in-ouch!" Kreis said wincing in pain after being elbowed by Leon.

"Too much information bro." Leon said through his teeth to Kreis.

"S-sorry." Kreis said now rubbing his elbow.

"Hey, come on in. The breads almost ready." Welkin said.

"What, the mechanics are here too? What a surprise." a tall muscular man with sideburns said.

"Yeah, whatever. Largo do you have the present?" a tall red haired woman beside him replied.

"Yep. Sure do Rosie. Can't wait for the reaction." Largo said almost pumped.

"Just remember it's on you if Alicia gets furious at us for that present." Rosie said in a annoyed voice.

"Understood…" Largo sighed.

"Rosie! Largo! Long time no see!" Welkin said excitedly.

"Hey chump. Have you've been a good father?" Largo said almost grinning. Rosie could only facepalm.

"O-of course, Isara loves her family very much." Welkin said almost perplexed.

"Oh, where should we put the present?" Largo asked.

"Come on in and I'll show you." Welkin said as he greeted both Largo and Rosie into his home.

Welkin was about to close the door when…

"Hello Lt. Gunther. Long time no see." an older woman with glasses said.

"C-Captain Varrot!" Welkin said so surprised he nearly gave her a salute.

"Don't worry, you're not on duty anymore if I recall but I do have a present for the kid. How has she been?" asked Cpt. Varrot.

"Wonderful. She's growing up so fast. Me & Alicia never knew how great it was to be parents. We did have our perceptions of what it could be like but still…" Welkin happily.

"Well, most parents probably feel the same as you Welkin." Cpt. Varrot said calmly.

—

It was now a full house everyone was socializing with each other while Marina just stood in the living room by herself.

"What's wrong with me? Isn't this what I wanted to do?" Marina thought to herself she was starting to feel shy and nervous, feelings she hadn't felt since she was a child. Isara soon walked up to her. "Are you having fun? I hope you'll play with us today." Isara said cheerfully. At that moment, Marina looked at Isara warmly. "Of course I will." Marina replied cheerfully. She was starting to get the hang of this social thing.

"All right everyone." Alicia soon announced to everyone. "We're going to be playing a game before we have the birthday cake. The game is called pin the tail on the donkey." Alicia further explained.

"Seriously? Why?" Largo said almost speechless.

"She's turning 5, not 15. I swear it's like you've never been to child's birthday party before Largo." Rosie snapped at Largo almost holding in the urge to groan.

"Sorry I asked." Largo sighed.

—

The game was soon ready with the donkey being an rather impressive drawing Welkin had designed himself.

While Welkin, Largo, Rosie, Leon, Kreis & Varrot failed quite hilariously at the goal of the game, Isara had gotten very close to pinning it in the right spot.

"So close, Isara, so close." Alicia said cheerfully. "Hey Marina, would you like to try next?"

"Ummm…Sure why not." Marina said hesitantly.

The game was rather simple, all you had to do was pin the tail onto the donkey picture. But you had to do it blindfolded.

Marina took a deep breath. She had blindfolded herself before while taking apart and putting together sniper rifles as a test to herself. Sort of like a personal game. So it should be easy. She usually liked to focus on things like this alone but being blindfolded helped a little bit.

She carefully walked forward and felt around the wall as well as the paper itself that drawing was drawn onto.

She pinned the tail onto the wall.

Everyone was soon applauding. Marina had pinned it perfectly in the right location.

Isara, in particular, took a good look at it. "You're so good! That was awesome!" Isara squealed as she hugged Marina.

Marina's cheeks blushed deep red, she wasn't really used to this sort of attention but for some reason she felt really good about herself.

"All right everyone! It's time for the cake!" Alicia proudly said.

—

The cake was rather large but vanilla flavored, Isara's favorite. There was also five candles on the cake.

"Hold on everyone before you go singing the song on your own. Let me show you how it's done." Rosie proclaimed.

"You're actually gonna sing for Isara? Thanks so much! I thought we were gonna have to ask you." Welkin said surprised.

"Hey, I got to. It wouldn't make sense any other way." Rosie quickly responded.

Rosie then took a deep breath.

" _Happy birthday to you…Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to Isara, Happy birthday, Happy birthday to you…"_ Rosie sang to impressive applause.

"Wow…she's still has the skill down to a tee after all these years…" Largo thought.

"Hurry up, Isara, make a wish on the candles!" Welkin said excitedly.

"I will Papa! Don't rush me!" Isara pouted.

After a few seconds, Isara then blew out all the candles in one breath.

Everyone soon had at least one slice of cake, Marina gently ate it. It did really taste good, it made actually her think of her childhood fondly something she hadn't done in years.

—

Soon afterwards, it was time for the presents. Isara looked really excited. "Can I open this one first please?" asked Isara.

"That's ones ours! We hope you like it!" Leon said with excitement.

Isara quickly opened up the present. "Woooow…. it's a plane." Isara said with amazement.

Welkin and Alicia couldn't believe it, Leon and Kreis had made a miniature model replica of the plane that they had used to escape the Marmota at the very end of the war with the Empire.

"Do you like it Isara?" Kreis soon asked.

"I love it!" Isara practically squealed hugging both Leon and Kreis.

"Doesn't it warm your heart Kreis?" Leon asked his friend.

"O-of course it does." Kreis responded with a little shyness.

"This one next! This one next!" Isara squealed, she was soon eyeing another present, this one was from Largo and Rosie.

"I hope you like it miss! But you'll probably need help using it the first time." Largo said with confidence.

"Remember what I said Largo." Rosie said reminding Largo of their previous conversation.

Isara opened up the present and Alicia nearly fainted at what Largo had gotten her.

"What is it?" Isara soon asked.

"It's old fashioned BB gun!" Largo said. "Comes with accessories too, including targets!" Largo added.

"You got my little girl a gun!?" Alicia said nearly furious at Largo and Rosie.

"His idea, not mine." Rosie quickly said.

"Don't worry, it only shoots soft pellets. Not real bullets." Largo said trying to reassure Alicia.

"Does that even matter!? I don't want my daughter shooting her poor eye out!" Alicia said practically screeching at Largo.

"Papa, can I try it out later with you?" Isara asked her father.

Alicia held in the urge to scream in agony. She honestly felt Isara was too young for this.

"Uhhhh…..well…" Welkin responded hesitantly.

"I could teach you, but you'll have to wear protective googles, okay? We don't you shooting your eye out and giving your mother a heart attack." Marina chimed in trying to defuse the situation a bit.

"That's shouldn't be problem! The package comes with those as well!" Largo said with pride.

Alicia rolled her eyes.

"How about you open my gift next Isara?" Cpt. Varrot soon asked Isara handing her the present.

"Okay!" Isara said as she opened the gift.

They seemed to be an old pair of binoculars. Isara seemed impressed with the gift. Largo seemed stunned though.

"Those were mine when I first joined the Milita. I hope you'll treasure them." Cpt. Varrot said to Isara.

"I will Miss Carrot!" Isara squealed as she hugged the Captain.

"C-carrot!?" the Captain replied flustered.

"Hahahahahahahaha…..I am so grateful I was here to witness that!" Largo laughed quite loudly.

All that remained was Marina's gift.

"Here Isara, I hope you like it." Marina said handing her gift to Isara. She was nervous she didn't know what to really get Isara. She felt it should come from the heart and she hoped her gift did that.

Isara quickly opened it up and gasped quite loudly. It was a sparkling glowing red, heart shaped box that opened up. When it opened, it played a gentle musical tune for 3 seconds.

"Whoa…" Largo responded.

"It's beautiful…" Alicia said stunned, those were pretty expensive from what she had heard about them.

"Do you like it?" Marina said, she was now borderline nervous.

"I LOVE IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Isara shrieked with high energy and practically tackle hugged Marina that she fell to the floor despite being on her knees.

Marina didn't know what to expect but she was so overjoyed that Isara loved her gift and actually hugged her back without even thinking about how she felt about her emotions.

"I'm glad you do. Your welcome." Marina replied softly.

—

The party soon began to wind down into the night and everyone was soon saying their goodbyes and leaving. Soon all that remained was Marina who seemed very reluctant to leave.

"What's wrong with me now? It's over right? Why…Why do I feel this sadness coming again?" Marina thought to herself.

"Marina, there's something I wanted to ask you before you leave." Welkin said approaching Marina.

"What did you want to ask me?" Marina said hesitantly.

"When Alicia asked how'd you been living up in the mountains, you said you were okay but your face told me something different. I don't mean to interfere with your personal life but are you really okay?" Welkin cautiously asked Marina. He knew it was a dumb idea to ask her but he felt he had to.

Marina soon got up from where she was sitting tempted to slap Welkin for saying that. All she could muster was to stare at him with rage, however it wasn't very intimidating, tears soon began to fall from her eyes.

"Marina…are you crying?" Welkin said almost shocked.

Marina soon realized what was happening and quickly ran out the door.

"Marina—!" Welkin called back to her.

Marina was soon by the side of the Gunther family home sobbing and crying her eyes out. She didn't want to leave the party because she didn't want to be alone anymore, it took only one birthday party for her to realize that she was spiraling into madness, what she wanted out of her life, to live alone, was now turning against her and hurting her inside and out.

"Are you okay Marina?" Welkin asked out of concern.

Marina quickly noticed and tried rubbing her eyes clean with her arm.

"I-I wasn't crying at all really." Marina said trying hard to put on a strong face.

"Marina, humans by nature are social creatures, they just can't live alone forever even if one tried. If you severe your ties with the human race it becomes difficult to live sooner or later. No matter what you or anyone else thinks." Welkin said trying to comfort Marina.

"H-how did you know how I really felt?" Marina asked.

"Because, I happen to know a lot about nature that most people tend to notice." Welkin explained.

"Papa, is everything okay?" Isara soon asked.

Marina soon saw Isara and soon Isara saw that Marina was crying.

"What's wrong Marina, didn't you have a lot fun with me?" Isara asked.

"No, it's just…I don't want the fun to end…" Marina tried explain to Isara in a more relatable way. She didn't know how to explain her life problems to 5-year old so it would have to do.

"It's alright. I had fun playing with you today and I don't want it to end either, I hope you visit more often! Right Papa?" Isara said trying to cheer up her new friend.

"O-of course Marina can. If it's okay with her." Welkin said looking at Marina calmly.

Marina didn't know how to respond. She felt her emotions crawling out of her and taking over herself, emotions she had kept at bay for so long. She hugged Isara. She knew there was no turning back she had to join the human race and be apart society. The times of living alone were over for her.

"Happy birthday Isara. I'll visit anytime I can. And I promise to be here for more of your birthdays to come." Marina softly responded.

"You do!?" Isara said.

"Of course, pinky swear." Marina said holding her pinky finger up in front of Isara.

Isara quickly linked her own pinker finger with Marina's.

"Then it's a promise." Marina said calmly.

—

After calming down a bit, Marina soon said her goodbyes to the Gunther family before heading to the local train station for home, She was also given some of Alicia's fine baked bread to bring back home with her.

As Marina walked to the station, she felt at peace and calm for some reason, certain that she had made the right decision to be more sociable with other people. She looked up at the night sky of Bruhl.

"Maybe, I'll go and get a boyfriend someday…" Marina thought to herself.

—

"Do you think Marina will be okay?" Alicia said with concern. She and Welkin had never seen her so emotional before.

"I think so. She'll make it, I have a good feeling about it." Welkin replied.

Soon afterwards, they tucked Isara into bed.

"Goodnight Isara, Happy birthday." Alicia said kissing her daughter goodnight.

"Goodnight Mama." Isara said in a rather sleepy tone.

It had been a long wonderful day. Isara had a great birthday party with people Alicia and Welkin were grateful to have seen again and Marina was now rediscovering herself, learning what it means to be human and not a lone wolf who keeps to herself.


	6. Father's Day

**Father's Day**

It was a beautiful early summer day in Bruhl. The weather was warm but not hot, perfect for kids to be playing outside. Alicia was working very hard at the bakery. Getting orders ready, making sure the inventory did not run out and making extra bread dough. Isara would normally be helping out with the shop but Alicia allowed her to play outside today because the weather was so ideal to be playing in.

Today, however, was also Father's Day. Alicia had came up with the most perfect plan for Welkin when he got home teaching and planned to close shop early for that reason. It was going to be a long, busy but wonderful time out.

Isara also went through a change after turning 5. Soon afterwards, she started calling her parents Mommy & Daddy and not Mama & Papa anymore. Alicia was overjoyed when she first heard Isara starting to say it. But at the same time, She was starting to feel nervous from time to time, it was inevitable but Isara was going to start school in the fall. Welkin was even starting to tutor Isara so she would have a good start when school did arrive.

"Mommy, Mommy!" Isara said running towards her mother. Alicia had just managed to close shop just in time to leave. "What is it Isara?" Alicia asked her daughter gently.

"Look! Can we give it to Daddy please?" Isara squealed showing her mother a medium-sized centipede-type bug. Alicia almost let out a terrified shriek when Isara showed it to her. "Isara, please put that back wherever you found it, I already have a gift planned for your father." Alicia said trying hard not to be terrified of the creepy crawly.

"Okay, Mommy. But what's your gift going to be?" asked Isara innocently as she gently put the bug back on the ground.

"It's a surprise." Alicia responded.

Isara just looked at her mother with a confused look.

"Don't worry. I think you'll enjoy it very much as well." Alicia said gently as she and Isara walked home.

—

After arriving at home, Alicia and Isara soon got hard to work on a rather wonderful lunch to surprise Welkin with first and foremost. Then afterwards, they would take the station to a southern area in Bruhl.

"I'm home!" Welkin said as he opened the front door.

"Daddy!" Isara squealed as she hugged her father.

"Hey there Isara! Did you work hard at the Bakery today?" Welkin said gently to his daughter

"Not really, Mommy let me play outside today! It was really fun!" Isara replied with the honesty and innocent of a child.

"Is that so? That's great to hear! Did you play with the other kids?" Welkin then asked.

"Ummm…Welkin, I hate to interrupt but we made you a wonderful lunch and it's kind of getting cold." Alicia said.

"Oh, sorry about that." Welkin said rubbing the back of his head. Isara only giggled with joy in response.

—

"That was so delicious!" Welkin said with joy after eating the last bite of bread.

"I'm glad you liked it. But it was Isara who actually made the bread this time around." Alicia replied.

"Really? Sounds like my daughter is becoming a great chef just like her mother." Welkin said patting his daughters head.

"I worked really hard on it too! I'm glad you really liked it Daddy!" Isara said hugging Welkin.

"Me too Isara." Welkin replied gently.

"Now, now, we have to get going to soon or we'll miss the train." Alicia chimed in.

"Wait, where are we going?" Welkin asked.

"It's a surprise." Alicia replied. Welkin could only stare and think what Alicia could have planned for him.

—

After a few minutes of walking, Alicia, Welkin & Isara were now at the train station.

"So…where is this surprise place?" Welkin asked in curiosity.

"Southern Gallia. That's the only hint you're getting Welkies." Alicia replied.

"D-did you really have to say that? Martha is the one who usually calls me that." Welkin said slightly embarrassed.

"I know. But you're reaction to it is adorable." Alicia said in a teasing matter.

"Mommy! The train is here!" squealed Isara.

The train soon arrived at the station and the family of three quickly got aboard.

—

The train soon arrived at it's destination. After getting off the train, Alicia quicky got a blindfold out and put it on Welkin.

"But, why?" Welkin said almost confused.

"Because no peaking. Now don't worry, I'll guide you there. Just hold my hand, Okay?" Alicia said teasing her husband. Isara could only giggle as her father was guided to the surprise destination by Alicia.

—

"Alright, Welkin you can take it off." Alicia said to Welkin after 2 minutes of walking.

Welkin took off blindfold and gasped. He always wanted to go here but never had the opportunity. Alicia thought it would be the perfect gift for him on Father's Day.

"Is-is this the Gallia public greenhouse?" Welkin said almost giddy like a young child.

"Yep. I picked this place just for you." Alicia replied.

"Alicia, thank you. I don't know what to so say." Welkin said gently.

"You don't need to. Happy Father's Day Welkin." Alicia said gently hugging Welkin.

Welkin then hugged Alicia back. "I love you Alicia." Welkin then said.

"I love you too." Alicia gently replied.

The married couple proceeded to share a deep kiss.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Isara said slightly annoyed.

"Sorry about that Isara." Alicia said to her daughter.

"What's a greenhouse?" asked Isara with a little curiosity.

"A greenhouse is a building where farmers grow plants in specialized conditions. Some like these are open to the public to visit. It's really beautiful to go and look around in." Welkin explained.

"Is it pretty?" Isara asked Welkin.

"You bet it is! I'm sure you'll love it Isara." Welkin exclaimed with joy.

"Ready to go in Welkin?" Alicia then asked.

"Of course." Welkin replied, he was really excited to go look around.

The family then proceeded to enter the greenhouse.

—

"Wow! This is beautiful! The flowers are practically in pristine shape." Welkin said with surprise and the curiosity of child.

Alicia couldn't help but giggle, even though he was in his late 20s and was a father he still acted like an innocent child when it came to stuff like this.

"Daddy, what kind of flower is this?" Isara asked pointing to a glowing blue plant.

Welkin went to where Isara was and immediately got nostalgic as did Alicia.

"That's a plant called Ponisera Isara, it's a wild herb that can be used to heal bruises and sprains when a person is hurt." Welkin explained to his daughter.

"It also has nectar that I use to make bread dough with." Alicia further explained to Isara.

"It's beautiful…" Isara said with wide eyes.

"Doesn't it make you feel nostalgic Alicia?" Welkin said warmly to his wife.

"Yeah, you still remember that time when we got lost in the woods and I sprained my ankle? You had to heal it with Ponisera." Alicia replied with a gently nostalgic feeling to her voice.

"I do." Welkin replied gently.

—

Isara and Welkin were soon walking around for a few hours, observing all the plants and flowers around each other with Welkin explaining what each one was to Isara.

"Daddy, what are those on the water?" Isara asked pointing to a particular plant in the pond.

"Oh, those are lilypads Isara, frogs use them to hop across water." Welkin explained.

"So cool!" Isara said with curiosity.

As Welkin explained further information about the surrounding plants, Alicia couldn't help but smile. Isara really was interested in nature. She was just like her father.

"Are you two having fun?" Alicia asked gently.

"Yep! It's wonderful! The plants and flowers are so pretty!" Isara replied with joy.

"Yeah, this is great! I think we've seen everything that I could! I don't even know where to go or look next!" Welkin exclaimed with childlike joy.

"So it's time to leave then?" Alicia asked.

"I guess so. Thank you for this. This has been a wonderful place to visit." Welkin replied gently.

"Happy Father's Day Daddy!" Isara squealed as she hugged her father.

 _Guuuuu~_

Just then a low semi-loud growling sound emitted.

"Wait, are there animals here too Daddy? I wanna go see them!" Isara asked almost oblivious to what the sound really was.

Welkin couldn't help but chuckle while Alicia just blessed a deep red and rubbed her stomach.

"No, Isara, Mommy's just hungry that's all. It's almost time for dinner." Alicia said slightly embarrassed.

"Oh. Can we go somewhere to eat Daddy? I'm hungry too." Isara then asked her father.

"Okay, but I get to choose, it is father's day after all." Welkin replied.

The family of three soon left for a small diner Welkin selected near the greenhouse.

—

"This is delicious!" Welkin said as he ate his meal. He and Alicia had ordered pancakes while Isara ordered a small peanut butter sandwich.

"Yeah, this area of Gallia is also famous for it's restaurants." Alicia said.

"I know, maybe we should go out for dinner to some of these places more often sometime." Welkin further said.

"Mommy, I need more milk." Isara said chiming in.

"It's alright Isara, I'll get you some more." Alicia said gently to Isara.

Alicia soon called for the waiter and got a refill of milk.

—

After a having a nice dinner together and paying the bill, Alicia, Welkin & Isara soon went back to the train station.

"I had a wonderful time today." Welkin said to Alicia as the train began to depart to Bruhl.

"I'm glad you enjoyed my little surprise Welkin." Alicia said gently as Isara sat on her lap resting.

"Well, I thought it was a big surprise." Welkin then said.

Welkin then looked at Isara, she was gently breathing in and out as she rested on her mothers lap.

"She's just so cute when she sleeps." Welkin observed as he rubbed his daughter's head gently.

"I know…I can't believe she's starting school soon." Alicia said with a little bit of worry in her voice.

"Alicia, are you worried about her attending school?" Welkin asked with a little concern.

"It's just that…Isara always plays with us and not with the other kids. I'm concerned she might feel all alone in the school. Isara hasn't really made any friends yet." Alicia explained.

Welkin never even considered that. Isara didn't really have any friends or kids her age to play with. She was always with her family and as naturing as that was, she still needed to be able to go beyond that.

"She should be fine. Isara's so gentle and kind. I'm sure she'll make friends when the time comes." Welkin said trying to reassure his wife.

"I hope so." Alicia said still slightly concerned.

The train continued it's way towards Bruhl. Welkin had a wonderful time today celebrating father's day with his family and was hoping for more days of joy to come with them.


	7. The Visit

**Authors Note:** This was rather difficult to write because of how much of a downer this chapter is, but I hope everyone likes it!

 **The Visit**

It was a bright sunny August day in Gallia, though it was a particularly somber day for the Gunther family as they were currently walking through a military memorial cemetery.

They were going to visit Isara, Welkin's adopted little sister's grave. She had been killed in action tragically during the war with Empire. Welkin and Alicia visited her grave once every year to put new flowers on her tombstone. Welkin rarely talked about how much Isara's death affected him emotionally. His mother had died as a casualty of the first Europan war shortly after he was born and he saw how his father was affected by survivor's guilt as a result because of it growing up. Welkin was occasionally plagued by the same guilt his father felt from time to time over Isara's death, if it wasn't for Alicia, he probably wouldn't have been able to handle it very well.

In fact, there were two times Alicia recalled where Welkin actually cried, the first was after the mission where they reclaimed their hometown Bruhl during the war. He had held in his emotions during the three weeks in-between that and Isara's death to maintain the morale among the troops under his command. When he finally went back to his home where he and Isara had lived in after the mission was completed, he just started crying and weeping, Alicia remembered comforting him there for what seemed like hours.

The second time was when Isara, their daughter, was born. Welkin became reluctant at first to name their daughter Isara in honor of his sister after he had suggested it. He thought it was a great idea but he later felt like it would cause him torment, like having a reminder of the pain he felt deep down inside. But when Isara was actually born and he saw her gentle resting face for the first time, he couldn't help but want to name her that. He cried as he officially made the decision. Alicia had cried too but they were tears were of joy for both of them that day. It was the greatest day of both their lives when Isara was born.

But Isara was coming with them this time to the cemetery and Welkin couldn't help but feel tense and uncomfortable about this. He didn't want to do this but Isara was going to have to know eventually.

As they walked through the graveyard coming closer to his sister's tombstone, Welkin was already beginning to feel emotional and Isara was starting to notice.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Isara asked her father.

"I'm…Daddy's okay Isara." Welkin replied, he was holding a bouquet of Lion's paw flowers and his hands were starting to shake.

Alicia looked on with worry while holding Isara's hand. Thankfully, she noticed a small playground nearby.

"Hey, Isara, would you like to play with Mommy for a little bit?" Alicia asked her daughter gently.

"Sure, Mommy!" Isara replied with joy.

Alicia then approached Welkin and kissed him on the cheek.

"You can do this Welkin. We'll be there in a few minutes." Alicia whispered gently to Welkin comforting him.

Alicia and Isara soon walked towards the playground.

—

"Hey Isara, I brought you some new flowers." Welkin said gently as he put the flowers down on the grave.

He then took a deep breath.

"Well, our little girl is now 5. She's even starting school soon. Alicia's really concerned she might not make any friends but we're sure she'll be able to. You really should've seen her at her birthday party this year, she actually got Marina to open up her emotions to other people. She got a lot of great gifts too, she even got a small replica of the plane you were working on. Kreis and Leon made it just for her…"

At that point, Welkin felt tears running down his face, his emotions were starting to take over.

"Oh, Isara…I miss you so much…" Welkin finally said sobbing.

"Daddy? Are you crying?" Isara said with a rather emotional concern. She never really saw her father cry before. Alicia and her had just gotten back from the playground.

Isara quickly ran over and hugged her father.

"What's wrong Daddy?" Isara said with worry.

Welkin could only hug his daughter tightly. "Isara…there's someone I want you to meet." Welkin said as he pointed to the tombstone.

"That's my little sister right there. She died before you were born. You're named after her." Welkin explained to his daughter gently.

Alicia, at this point, had tears coming down her face, it must be really difficult for Welkin to have to do this.

"So she's my aunt? Was she nice?" Isara asked not really sure what to even say.

"Yes, She was. She was a gentle soul. She would've been so happy to play with you." Welkin said as more tears started to flow from his face.

"She really was kind-hearted Isara, I know this must hard for you to understand because you never knew her." Alicia said as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Oh…" Isara paused as she began to think. It really was hard for her to understand, she was never really taught or had an solid understanding about death. Alicia was noticing this and soon regretted bringing her here. Isara truly was too young to understand any of this. She and Welkin had decided when she was born, that the age of 5 would be the ideal age to do this. But they were wrong and they both knew it.

Isara then proceeded to wipe the tears from her father's eyes.

"Daddy, can we go home now? I don't want you to be sad anymore." Isara said trying her hardest to make her father happy again.

Welkin at this point could've cried even more, but for some reason he couldn't help but smile. His little girl had a gentle, caring heart and he felt a very deep comfort from that.

"Yeah, let's go home Isara." Welkin said.

Alicia then proceeded to hug and embrace her family. It was too soon for Isara to fully understand all of this, but maybe she would someday.

—

"Goodbye for now, Isara, We'll be back next year. I promise." Welkin said just before he left for the train station.

It was rather quiet as they walked back to the train station, but Isara soon broke the silence with a question.

"Mommy, Isara was Daddy's younger sibling right?" Isara asked her mother.

Alicia was slightly surprised at her daughters question. Maybe she did understand some of it.

"Yes she was." Alicia gently replied.

"Mommy, Daddy, I…I want a younger sibling too." Isara eventually said with a rather shy tone.

Alicia and Welkin were quite startled when she said this. They had talked about this privately before over the course of the summer. But they never expected Isara to say something about it.

"Isara, you…you really want one?" Welkin asked his daughter.

"Yes. I really want one." Isara said with joy.

"I saw a bunch of kids playing together the other day and they were all siblings. It must be so much fun being able to play like that. I want to be able to have fun like that as well." Isara innocently explaining her reason.

Welkin and Alicia could only smile gently. The decision had been officially made for them. It was time for their family to add a new addition.

"Then we'll get you one. We promise." Welkin said gently.

"Yes, don't worry, when it happens, we'll tell you right away." Alicia said gently, hugging Isara.

Isara could only smile real wide with joy in response.

"I love you Mommy and Daddy." Isara squealed as she hugged both her parents.

"We love you too, Isara." Alicia responded.

It was a rough but emotional day, but it had ended on a slightly happier tone. Isara may not have been able to fully grasp the emotions and the situation of today. But Welkin and Alicia found comfort today in continuing to be there for Isara and the promise of a new addition to their family.


	8. First Day of School

**First Day of School**

It was a beautiful September autumn day in Bruhl. The kids that would be typically playing in the fields and Lion's Paw Meadow, were now prepared for the first day of elementary school with their parents walking them there. Kids were being hugged by their parents before parting ways as the kids walked into the school building.

Alicia took a deep breath as she and Welkin walked towards the school with Isara who was carrying a small red backpack. The day had finally arrived, it was Isara's first day of school. Alicia was feeling very nervous and anxious about all this, she hoped Isara would make a least one friend after the day was over.

Welkin was hoping for the best for Isara as well. He made sure he and Alicia would be able to pick up Isara as soon as school let out for the day. Welkin and Alicia also both took the day off from work today to prepare for this. In addition to all this, they had made an appointment with a doctor for Alicia who was already starting to have certain symptoms such as nausea.

"Alright, Isara, here we are. This is where school is." Welkin said gently. "Make sure you learn a lot, Don't worry if you don't make friends initially. It takes a while to get used to all of this." Welkin explained to Isara.

"I will Daddy." Isara replied. She seemed slightly nervous and unsure about all this as well.

"Be sure you're a good girl at school okay? Mommy loves you very much." Alicia said as she hugged her daughter tightly.

"I love you too Mommy, I'll be alright." Isara said trying to comfort her mother. She seemed sort of aware of how much Alicia agonized over this.

And like that, Isara walked into the school buildings front door among the other kids.

"Please do well, Isara." Alicia said to herself.

—

Soon after seeing Isara off to school, Welkin and Alicia visited the doctor's office. As Welkin and Alicia waited in the waiting room Welkin couldn't help but notice Alicia's worried face.

"She's going to be alright Alicia, I know she will. Don't worry, I'm still a little worried as well." Welkin said to Alicia trying to comfort her.

"I hope so." Alicia replied she was still rather concerned for her daughter.

"The doctor will see you now." a nurse soon said to Alicia and Welkin as she walked into the waiting room.

—

Isara took a good look around. She was in a classroom with 8 other kids. According to the headmaster, this first class was going to be about english.

"Hi! Is this your first day too?" a young girl with darkish looking hair soon asked Isara.

"Y-yes." Isara replied nervously.

The girl could only giggle happily. She seemed excited about all of this.

"My name's Laura! What's yours?" the girl soon asked, introducing herself.

"Isara." Isara replied she was starting to feel better about all of this.

"Isara? That's a pretty name! I hope we can be best friends! Wanna play at recess?" Laura soon asked with a lot of energy.

"Sure!" Isara soon replied with excitement she was starting to feel good about herself.

Soon afterwards a lady with blonde short hair came though the door.

"Alright! Alright! Calm down kids, I'm here now!" the lady soon said.

"Now on with introductions! My name is Mrs. Irene Ellet and in addition to being a part time reporter for the Gallian radio news, I'm your english teacher for you're first class. I hope you'll learn to get along. I also was a reporter during the Gallian war with the Imperial Empire in case anyone was curious. I even wrote a book about it!" Mrs. Ellet explained with a hyper pure energy but warmness to her voice.

Some of the kids quickly gasped with a few wows and awesomes included and were soon asking their teacher all sorts of questions.

"Now, now, you can ask me all sorts of questions after class. But, first, it's time for our first lesson." Mrs Ellet quickly replied.

"Isn't that cool Isara? She's also a news reporter!" Laura said to Isara, the two girls were sitting next to each other.

"Yeah! It is!" Isara replied. The two girls were quickly becoming good friends.

—

Meanwhile at the doctor's office, Welkin and Alicia were quietly waiting for the doctor. Alicia had managed to calm herself down about Isara. The doctor soon came in with some surprising results.

"Alright Mrs. Gunther, We've got the results back. The symptoms are checked out completely and it's official." the doctor stated to the Gunther's.

"You mean…?" Alicia said already knowing the answer.

"Yes. You're pregnant. Actually, you're already 4 weeks in to be precise." the doctor announced gently and calmly.

Alicia felt a strong string of emotions all at once. Even though she been through this before it didn't really matter, it was still a wonderful thing to her. She got teary eyed and hugged Welkin tightly.

"We did it. Welkin, Isara's going to be a big sister…" Alicia said with pure joy.

"I can't wait to tell her the big news." Welkin said with joy as well.

—

Isara and Laura were having a great time playing together at recess. They had officially become great friends.

Isara couldn't wait to tell her parents all about it but something seemed to bother Isara, some of the kids were refusing to play with Laura. She seem to didn't understand but the kids had said something about Darcsen or something like that. Laura told her not to worry but it still bothered Isara for some reason.

"My parents told me it was to be expected with some of the kids." Laura explained to Isara with a little bit of sadness.

—

Welkin and Alicia got to the school as soon as the doors opened with kids coming out. Alicia looked on with a little bit of an anxious feeling. She didn't know what to expect when Isara came out. Welkin soon saw Isara come out and his heart practically felt as warm it could be when he saw what he saw.

Isara was talking with a young Darcsen girl, the two seemed happy and were talking amongst each other.

Isara and the girl quickly walked towards Welkin and Alicia.

"Mommy! Daddy! This is my new friend Laura!" Isara said squealing in joy introducing her new friend.

"Pleased to meet you, Laura." Alicia said gently, inside she was overjoyed that Isara had managed to make a friend.

Welkin seemed a little surprised. The girl Laura, actually looked a lot like his younger adopted sister, Isara.

"Are you okay Isara's daddy?" Laura soon asked Welkin noticing his facial expression.

"Nothing's wrong Laura. You remind me of my younger sister. That's all." Welkin explained.

"Really? That's funny!" Laura said giggling.

"I'm glad you and my Isara are friends. You can come over and play anytime you want." Welkin then said gently and warmly to Laura.

"Really? I can!?" Laura said with pure excitement.

"Yes! Anytime you and Isara wish to!" Welkin said with confidence reassuring Laura.

"This is wonderful isn't it Isara? I can't wait to tell my family a Darcsen like me is welcome at someone's home!" Laura said with pure overjoy and soon held both of Isara hands.

"I've got to go home now. See you tomorrow Isara! I hope we can play more! It was great meeting your family!" Laura said to Isara.

"Okay! See you tomorrow as well Laura!" Isara said with joy as Laura walked off to home.

The girls waved goodbye to each other as Isara walked home with her parents.

Welkin and Alicia couldn't help but feel relieved and happy about this day.

—

"The teachers are really nice! My first teacher was really interesting, she's also a news reporter!" Isara said explaining to her first school day to her parents during dinner.

"Really? What's her name?" Alicia asked Isara with a little bit of curiousity.

"Irene Ellet. She's really goofy and nice!" Isara quickly replied.

Welkin and Alicia were stunned. They didn't even know that Irene, the reporter who hung around Squad 7 during the war, was also a teacher. Life was just full of surprises apparently.

"Is that so? You'll have to introduce us sometime." Welkin said trying to hide his shock.

"Isara that reminds me! We have great news to tell you after dinner!" Alicia said.

—

"Mommy, Daddy, what's the big news?" Isara asked her parents. She was sitting on the rug in the family room while Welkin and Alicia sat on the couch together.

Alicia then took a deep breath. "Isara, You're going to be a big sister." Alicia announced gently to her daughter.

"It's going to take 9 months for it to happen. But it's officially going to happen. You're going to have a younger sibling" Welkin further explained.

Isara soon became overjoyed and quickly embraced her parents.

"Really? I am!" Isara said with happiness.

"Yes. Isara. You are. Congratulations." Alicia said hugging her daughter.

The family soon embraced each other. Partaking in the news as a family.

But Isara soon asked a rather unprepared question.

"Wait, why 9 months Daddy? Why not sooner? Why does it take 9 months?" Isara asked innocently.

Welkin and Alicia knew what this meant and both quickly became nervous. They were going to have explain a little bit to Isara where babies come from. Fortunately, Welkin managed to look at the time at that point.

"Hey Isara, we'll explain it all tomorrow. Okay? It's almost time for bed." Welkin said gently to Isara.

"Okay, Daddy." Isara complied hugging her father.

Alicia breathed a sigh of relief. She hoped that the night should give her and Welkin time to think how to explain all of this to Isara in the morning.

—

"That was a long beautiful day wasn't it?" Welkin said to Alicia later that night.

"Yeah, so much great things happened today. It was wonderful." Alicia replied warmly.

Alicia soon lightly placed her hands on her stomach.

"I can't wait for this child to be born. I know Isara will love him or her dearly." Alicia said gently.

Welkin soon hugged and embraced Alicia.

"Our family is growing so fast." Welkin said gently with joy.

"It really is." Alicia said warmly.

"Alicia, I love you." Welkin said warmly.

I love you too Welkin." Alicia replied.

Alicia and Welkin then shared a deep passionate kiss.

It was a great day full of surprises. Isara managed to make a friend on her first day of school, Alicia was now pregnant with a second child. Alicia and Welkin Gunther, despite having all these wonderful times together and raising a family, couldn't help but feel that this was just the beginning.


	9. A Baby In Mommy's Tummy?

**Author's Note:** I said after Chapter 8 that this series was completed and there would be a sequel but I've decided to just publish the sequel chapters as part of this series instead. In other words, this fanfic is going to be revived with new chapters. Anyhow, I hope everyone enjoys this!

 **A Baby In Mommy's Tummy?**

Isara Gunther, the daughter of Alicia and Welkin Gunther, woke up early but with the same cheerfulness, adorable innocence and curiosity that she always had within her. In addition to having her first day of school yesterday and making a friend, Isara had received huge news last night from her parents that she was going to be an older sister and couldn't wait to ask her parents all sorts of questions today.

Isara rubbed eyes as she awoke from a good night's sleep. She yawned gently as she stretched her arms out and quickly got out of her bed. She soon opened to door to her bedroom and walked towards the kitchen.

—

The sunlight beamed brightly through the kitchen window as Alicia made breakfast for her family with Welkin sitting at the table as he sipped coffee from a cup.

"The coffee is delicious as always Alicia." Welkin said with a complemental gentleness.

"Thanks Welkin." Alicia responded.

"Say, Alicia, has Isara woken up yet? I wouldn't want her to be late for school." Welkin then proceeded to ask Alicia.

"You know you're right. Maybe I should go check up on her so she doesn't oversleep." Alicia said as she finished the last of the breakfast meals.

"Good morning Mommy!" Isara said with cheerfulness as she entered the kitchen hugging her mother.

"Good morning Isara! Did you sleep well?" Alicia said as she embraced her daughter.

"Yes, I did Mommy!" Isara replied happily.

"Hey Isara, you ready for another day at school?" Welkin asked gently to Isara.

"Yes, I am Daddy! I can't wait to see Laura again!" Isara replied as she sat next to her father at the kitchen table.

"Now, now, breakfast is ready. Are you hungry?" Alicia said gently to her daughter.

"Yes! What did you make?" Isara asked her mother.

"I made your favorite Isara, smoked cheese bread." Alicia responded.

"Yay! Thank you Mommy!" Isara squealed as she hugged her mother.

–

After a refreshing breakfast, Isara had some free time before having to get ready for school. She decided to spend it asking her parents all sorts of questions about her younger sibling.

"So...Mommy...why does it have to take 9 months for my younger sibling to arrive?" Isara asked her mother curiously.

Alicia took a deep breath. Welkin and her had talked previously last night on how to explain this without getting too explicit. They concluded that they could explain the basics without too much trouble and reserved the rather more explicit details for when Isara turned 13.

"Well, Isara, it takes a while for it to grow." Alicia explained gently.

"Grow? Like a plant?" Isara replied slightly confused.

Welkin couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at that remark.

"Well, not exactly like a plant but it's kind of similar to that." Welkin explained to Isara.

"Eh? How so?" Isara asked now officially confused.

"Isara, this might be a little hard to understand, but it's going to grow in here." Alicia explained moving her left hand to her stomach.

"In Mommy's tummy?" Isara replied.

"Yes. In 9 months it'll grow into a baby. Then afterwards me and your daddy will have to go the hospital to get it out." Alicia explained.

"Hospital? Is it going to be painful?" Isara asked with slight concern.

"Well, yes, it will be when it's time for the baby to come out, Isara. But it's also a wonderful experience, as a mommy, I'll be feeling every movement as your younger sibling grows inside of me." Alicia explained gently.

"Oh. I see. Will it be a boy or a girl?" Isara asked with additional curiosity.

"It's too early to tell, Isara. But eventually we'll find out as baby grows. That's how it works." Welkin further explained gently to Isara.

"Oh, okay." Isara replied. She then went silent for a few seconds. She was trying to understand this whole concept while thinking of additional questions to ask her parents. She was curious and found everything she was being told fascinating regardless.

"So, what kind of movement will you feel Mommy?" Isara finally asked.

"Well, usually things like arms stretching and legs kicking. In fact, when the baby grows big enough, you could be able to feel it as well if you touch my tummy." Alicia responded gently.

"Really? I can!?" Isara replied with excitement. She didn't even know that was possible.

"Can I do it right now please Mommy? I want to be able to say hi to my little sibling!" Isara asked with a little bit of begging in her tone.

"Well, it's very small right now. But you can try if you want." Alicia replied warmly. She couldn't help but smile. Isara was really excited to be an older sister. She could see it in her daughter's eyes which were practically gleaming with pure excitement.

Isara gently proceeded to put her tiny hands on her mother's stomach she waited for a few minutes but soon became disappointed.

"I don't feel anything." Isara said feeling a little sad.

"I'm sorry Isara, it's just too small right now to be able to feel anything." Alicia said comforting Isara.

"I know Mommy." Isara replied.

"Hey, Isara, try and cheer up. It's almost time to get ready for school now. Don't you want to see Laura again?" Welkin said trying to make Isara feel better. She quickly lightened up.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot all about that! I can't wait to see her again and tell her everything!" Isara said with pure joy.

Welkin and Alicia smiled gently at Isara as she quickly got her red backpack and then went back to her bedroom to get dressed.

–

Alicia & Isara were now walking towards the school together. Welkin couldn't come today because he had to leave early to prepare for classes at a different school where he teaches.

"Remember Isara, be a good girl at school and learn a lot just like daddy said yesterday." Alicia said as she and Isara made their way to the school buildings entrance.

"I will Mommy." Isara said as she let go of her mothers hand.

"Have a great day at school. Mommy loves you very much." Alicia said as she hugged her daughter before leaving.

"I love you too Mommy." Isara said.

And like that, Isara entered the school buildings entrance once again.

–

"Hey Isara! What's up?" Laura said cheerfully to Isara as she entered class and sat in her seat.

"Great! I'm going to be a big sister!" Isara squealed cheerfully to her friend.

"Your mom is having a baby? Congratulations Isara!" Laura replied.

"Thank you!" Isara said thanking her friend. "Do you have any siblings?" Isara then asked Laura.

"Actually I have two older brothers and a younger sister!" Laura explained to Isara.

"Really? That's so cool! Is it fun playing with them?" Isara asked Laura with curiosity.

"My little sis is too young to play with anyone and I don't really get to play with my brothers because they're so busy with high school." Laura said now slightly sad. It was apparent that Laura's family was always busy and didn't have time to play with her.

"But, my uncle is really fun to play with! He visits my family every week and we always have fun together!" Laura then expanded happily to Isara.

"Oh, I see. What game do you want to play at recess today?" Isara asked Laura.

"How about hide and seek? My uncle and I always play that!" Laura replied.

"Sure!" Isara said.

At that point Mrs. Ellet, the english teacher came in.

"Hey! I hope you kids weren't waiting too long! Today we're going to read a book together so let's take our seats everyone." Mrs. Ellet said in a slightly hyper but cheerful voice.

—

Eventually the school bell rang for lunchtime. Isara and Laura soon began walking together to the school cafeteria.

"What do you have for lunch, Isara?" Laura soon asked Isara. They were both carrying brown paper bags containing lunch their moms made for them.

"Some of my mom's fresh baked bread and an apple with orange juice!" Isara replied.

"Oh yeah, that's right! You're mom runs a bakery right?" Laura then proceeded to ask.

"Yep! I usually help mom out making bread as well when she's working!" Isara said cheerfully.

"That's so cool! I've always wanted to work in a bakery!" Laura said with surprise.

"What do you have for lunch Laura?" Isara then asked her friend.

"A peanut butter sandwich with some milk. It's my favorite!" Laura replied with joy.

"You can have a piece of my bread with it if you want. I have plenty of it!" Isara said offering Laura some of her bread.

"Really? I'd love some!" Laura replied.

Isara then reached into her brown lunch bag and gave Laura a huge chunk of her favorite type of bread, smoked cheese.

Laura then proceeded to take a bite of the bread. Immediately responding to the succulent taste of it with joy.

"It's delicious! You're mom really does have the best bread around!" Laura exclaimed.

"Everyone says that!" Isara replied giggling.

"I know." Laura then said.

Both girls giggled and talked as they proceeded to eat their lunch together.

—

It was now recess, while Isara and Laura got ready to play together a few kids in the distance starting talking.

"Hey, look, it's that Darcsen brat again." One kid said.

"Yeah, why does she always seem so happy? Is she even remotely aware of what she is?" Another kid said chiming in.

"Why would anyone want to play with her to begin with? You would always lose due to bad luck or something." An additional kid said being as cold as possible.

Laura ignored the cruel words that was being thrown her way. Isara heard and could only look with confusion, but she was starting to feel an emotion that she rarely felt at all, anger.

"Hey Isara, are you ready to play hide and seek? Let's have some fun!" Laura said to Isara completely ignoring the harsh words that were said behind her back.

"Sure!" Isara replied. Even though she and Laura had fun playing together she couldn't help but still feel a sense of anger towards those kids.

—

The school bell finally rang. The school day was officially over and all the kids including Isara and Laura were making their way out of the building.

"I really had fun today at recess!" Isara said to her friend.

"So did I!" Laura replied.

Isara then paused before deciding to ask a certain question.

"Hey…Laura are you okay? Those kids said some really mean things to you."

Laura simply smiled gently and replied "Don't worry, I'm okay. I'll see you tomorrow okay?" and then proceeded to walk home. Isara looked on as her friend walked home.

Isara soon found her parents waiting for her.

"Hey, Isara, how was school today?" Welkin said to his daughter gently as he and Alicia greeted her.

"I had a great time today! Me and Laura played hide and seek at recess today!" Isara replied with a happy tone to her voice.

"That's wonderful to hear!" Alicia replied cheerfully.

"Hey, Isara, we're going to go somewhere this weekend for a visit." Welkin then told Isara.

"Really? Where?" Isara soon asked with curiosity.

Alicia explained everything as they walked home together. It seems they were going to have a fun weekend planned.

—

 **Author's Note:** I apologize if parts of this chapter came off as rushed, poorly written or short. I had a hard time writing it for some reason. I'll promise to try to make the following chapters better.


	10. A Visit To Largo's Farm

**Author's Note:** Sorry this took so long. My personal life has gotten a little busy since starting technical school. I hope you enjoy the new chapter!

 **A Visit To Largo's Farm**

It was a nice late Saturday morning as Welkin drove in a dark greenish car down the road leading to a farmland area in Gallia. He and his family were going to visit Largo and Eleanor Varrot's farm home.

After war with the Imperial Empire ended, Largo went on to focus on his passion of being a vegetable farmer with him and Varrot soon marrying afterwards. Largo had recently offered the Gunther's to come and visit his farm via a letter he had sent to Welkin. He and Alicia thought it would be nice to visit the farm country area with Isara so they accepted the offer.

"Are we there yet mommy?" Isara asked her mother as she awoke from a brief nap. She sat in the backseat of the car while Alicia and Welkin sat in the front seats.

"We're almost there. We should be there soon okay." Alicia said gently to Isara.

"Okay mommy." Isara replied rubbing her eyes.

"Hey Isara, did you have a nice nap?" Welkin asked his daughter gently.

"Yes I did daddy. But I'm feeling hungry." Isara said rubbing her stomach.

"Don't worry, Largo probably has a nice huge lunch waiting for all of us when we arrive." Alicia said gently to Isara.

"Really? I hope we arrive soon, my tummy is getting rumbly…" Isara said meekly as her stomach growled in hunger.

—

Eventually the Gunther's arrived at a rather huge farm surrounded by fields of various vegetable gardens. Welkin parked the car with Alicia and Isara getting out of the car soon afterwards.

"Welkin! Alicia! How've you all been? Has Isara been doing good in school?" Largo said greeting his former comrades in front of the farm.

"Yep! She just started last week. She even made a friend!" Alicia said rather proudly to Largo.

"Well, aren't you a proud mother!" Largo said practically teasing Alicia. "Anyway I've prepared a great lunch of fruits and veggies for all of you!"

"Excellent. I hope it's nice and healthy." Welkin said.

"You bet it is! I can guarantee it's taste too." Largo said proudly.

"Well, aren't you a proud farmer!" Alicia said now teasing Largo.

 _Guuuuu~_

At that point, Isara's stomach rumbled loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"Uhhh…" Isara stammered, her cheeks blushing a dark red as she rubbed her stomach.

"Well, your belly sure is getting impatient little one! Come on in!" Largo said escorting the Gunther's into the farm's kitchen.

—

Alicia, Welkin and Largo were now sitting at the kitchen table with Isara practically eating all of the veggies on her plate.

"Isara, calm down! You're going to make yourself sick or choke!" Alicia said with slight overprotective concern as Isara gobbled down her food.

"She must've been really hungry…" Welkin said to himself.

"Now, now, the little girl should be proud of herself. It's not everyday you see a child enjoying vegetables this much." Largo replied.

Isara soon handed her now empty plate to Largo. "May I have some seconds please?" she asked.

"Of course! Coming right up little one." Largo replied.

At that point an older black haired woman came into the kitchen. She was holding two brown bags.

"Hey, sorry I'm late Largo, the grocery store was rather busy today." Varrot said.

"No problem Elle. Hey, guess who's here?" Largo replied.

"Oh!"

"Hey Welkin, Alicia, how are all of you?" Varrot said as she placed the grocery bags on a nearby counter.

"We've been doing fine." Welkin replied.

"Has Isara been doing alright in school? I heard she recently started." Varrot asked.

"She's been doing wonderful. She's even more cheerful since we're actually going to be expecting a 2nd child in a few months." Alicia said cheerfully.

"What!? You didn't tell me any of that! Congrats! I didn't even know Welkin had it in him!" Largo replied stunned.

"Wha-What are you talking about Largo?" Welkin said almost blushing with embarrassment.

"Oh you know, I mean come on, I always knew you two were lovebirds but I've never would've guessed that-" Largo said teasing Welkin about his private life.

"T-that's enough talk about that, o-okay… " Welkin said blushing full on with embarrassment. Alicia was feeling the exact same way right now.

"What are all of you talking about?" Isara asked with pure innocence and curiosity.

"Nothing too important little one, here's some more vegetables. Eat 'em all okay?" Largo replied with a hint of gentleness rarely seen from him.

"I will!" Isara replied with enthusiasm in her voice.

—

After a nice lunch, Isara was now playing outside, chasing the butterflies that fluttered around the field near the farm. She was having a rather energetic time running around when she had a rather unpleasant thought.

She couldn't help but think back to recess and the means things that were said behind her friend Laura's back. Laura didn't seem bothered by it at all but Isara could easily that tell her feelings were hurt by what they were saying.

"I should've done something…" Isara thought to herself thinking more about it.

Isara soon walked back to the farm where Alicia, Welkin & Varrot were talking amongst each other on the porch. Largo was busy working on the farm when he noticed Isara with a troubled look on her face. It was obvious that something was bothering her.

"Something the matter kid? You didn't get hurt, did you?" Largo asked the girl.

Isara simply just looked up at Largo.

"Well….my friend at school…a lot of the kids really don't like her and I don't know why. They say really mean things about her." Isara said being honest.

"Is that so? Like what." Largo asked curious.

"Well, they call her a darcsen or something. I really don't know why." Isara said almost becoming upset.

Largo couldn't help but feel like he had stepped into something troublesome. Alicia and Welkin didn't mention that Isara's school friend was a darcsen. This was going to be tough to explain to Isara. She was only a kid and probably had no understanding of why certain people distrust or even hated darcsens. It was obvious that what Isara was describing to him was bullying and he felt he had to tell Isara what to do if things got really bad.

He proceeded to take a deep breath.

"Listen, little one, I don't know what you're parents have and haven't told you, but it's important to know that some people especially other kids can be very mean sometimes." Largo explained.

"If things like this get bad and I mean so bad that your friend starts crying or is badly hurt. Do what you have to do to help your friend no matter what. Friends stick together. Remember that." Largo further explained.

Isara seemed to smile a little bit upon hearing that.

"I will! Thank you Largo!" Isara replied cheerfully as she hugged Largo.

Largo could only blush a little in silence, he wasn't exactly used to this kind of affection from kids.

—

Soon it became evening, with Isara starting to yawn a little. She was currently dozing away to sleep on a sofa in the living room.

"Hey, Isara, ready to go home?" Welkin said gently to his daughter trying not to startle her.

Isara could only rub her eyes a little.

"Yes, I'm ready to go home…" Isara replied.

"Don't worry, You can sleep on the way home. Let's just say goodbye to Largo and Varrot okay?" Welkin said reassuring Isara.

"…Okay." Isara said as she got up.

—

"Bye, Largo! Bye Miss Carrot!" Isara replied joyfully as she hugged both of them.

Varrot could only blush in embarrassment in response to the nickname Isara had gave her during her 5th birthday party while Largo could only laugh in sheer delight.

"Take care kid! Make sure you eat lots of veggies okay!" Largo said.

"I will!" Isara replied happily.

After bidding farewell to their old comrades, Welkin, Alicia & Isara proceeded back home. It had been a nice day visiting the farmland of Gallia and seeing old friends again. Isara was now resting peacefully in the back of the car as Welkin drove back home to Bruhl. Welkin also smiled as he saw Alicia starting to fall asleep as well, her hands resting on her abdomen.

Even though it was going to be a long time before it happened, Welkin couldn't help but be excited for the day his little girl becomes an older sister. There would be plenty of love for them all to share together, as a family.


	11. Dealing With Bullies

**Author's Note:** Another chapter is finally done! I hope everyone likes this one.

 **Dealing With Bullies**

About two months had passed since the visit to Largo's farm. Isara was starting to worry more and more about her friend Laura. Even though they were still playing a lot together at recess, Laura seemed sad every now and then. Those kids kept calling her names and saying mean things behind her back. Laura kept telling her that everything was alright but Isara seemed concerned that it wasn't.

She was currently waiting for Laura to come out and play during recess when it happened. She started to hear crying and she knew almost instantly that it had to be Laura. She soon saw her weeping and ran towards her.

"Laura! Is everything alright?" Isara asked her friend in a concerned voice.

"I-I'm sorry Isara, I had brought this nice toy to school for us to play with, it was one of my favorites, and well…" Laura explained but soon more tears welled up in her eyes.

"Gee, what a crybaby. It's just a toy. Darcsens have done much worse to people throughout history than braking some brat's toy." a young boy with curly brown hair said.

"Yeah, maybe read a history book once in a while. Everyone knows darcsens are no good." Another boy with blonde hair and freckles sneered.

"Pathetic. How pathetic." the young boy with curly brown hair then said.

Both of them started to laugh at Laura. Isara at this point was angry, more angry then she had ever been in her life.

"Are you the boys who were making fun of Laura?" Isara asked her voice almost like ice.

"Yeah, so?" the boy with blonde hair replied.

"Did you break my friends toy?" Isara then asked.

"Yeah, but it was Terry's great idea." the blonde haired boy replied almost gleefully, pointing to his curly brown haired friend to give his credit.

At that point, Isara then remembered what Largo had said to her.

" _If things like this get bad and I mean so bad that your friend starts crying or is badly hurt. Do what you have to do to help your friend no matter what. Friends stick together. Remember that."_

And in that split second…

 **BAM!**

Isara ran up and punched the blonde haired boy in his nose as hard as she could. The anger was visible in her eyes as she did it.

"You jerk! I'm telling what you did to Alex!" Terry the curly brown haired boy said and ran towards a teacher.

Laura looked on in horror as Isara punched Alex. The boy's nose was now bleeding from the sheer force of the punch.

"Darcsen loving brat…" Alex growled and proceeded to tackle Isara to the ground. A fight then broke out.

An older looking gray-haired female teacher soon ran towards the two kids and pulled them apart.

"You're in trouble young lady!" the older woman hissed.

Isara soon froze as it became obvious what she did.

"What have I done…" Isara said to her herself as tears came down her face.

—

Alicia was currently busy at the bakery alongside her husband Welkin who had taken the day off today to help out. Alicia was starting to show a little in her abdomen as well. Alicia was already convinced by motherly instinct perhaps, that it was going to be a boy.

"You really think it's going to be a boy?" Welkin asked his wife as he handed a customer an order of bread.

"It has to be. I can really tell by the way he's moving around." Alicia replied warmly.

"If I recall, Isara did a lot of that too." Welkin replied skeptically at Alicia's claim.

"Welkin, I can tell the difference." Alicia replied slightly annoyed.

"Well, even so…" Welkin said as he hugged his wife. "I'm sure Isara will love him or her no matter what."

"Oh, Welkin…" Alicia said.

"Alicia…"

The two were about to kiss passionately when all of a sudden series of knocks were heard at the ordering table.

Alicia and Welkin soon blushed and turned around to see Isara's school teacher Mrs. Ellet out of breath. She seemed very troubled.

"I-Irene!?" Welkin responded almost shocked.

"Hey…sorry we couldn't meet again on better circumstances…" Irene said as she caught her breath.

"What's wrong?" Alicia asked.

"Look, we need to get to the school now. I don't know all the details but it seems Isara had an altercation with another student." Irene explained.

"W-what?" Welkin replied almost shocked.

Irene took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy to explain to her parents.

"She got into a fight and she's in the principal's office now. That's all I know." Irene said.

Welkin and Alicia could respond with looks of shock. Alicia almost seemed in denial. But they quickly locked up shop and went to the school.

—

Isara seemed shaken and was very scared. She had never done anything like that before. She wasn't sure what was going to happen but now she was in the principles office and he did not look very happy.

"Isara, do you know why you're in here right now?" the principle, an older gray haired man with glasses said.

"I-I..well…" Isara said trying to explain herself.

Soon there were door knocks and Alicia and Welkin soon appeared with troubled looks on their faces.

"Ah, you're parents are here. How unexpected." the principle said calmly but stern.

"Hey, what happened? Did my daughter do something bad?" Welkin asked.

The principle took a deep breath.

"You're daughter punched a boy in the 2nd grade in his nose. He's now in the nurse's office being treated. The boy has a bloody nose." the principle explained.

"W-what…!? Isara! How could you…?" Welkin said angry at his daughter but couldn't help but restrain his emotions when he saw his daughter start to cry.

"I'm sorry Daddy! I really am! I didn't mean to hurt anyone! I was just trying to be there for my friend. That mean boy and his friend broke her toy." Isara said crying.

"Those boys kept calling her mean names like Darcsen! I don't know why they did it Daddy, I just wanted to see my friend Laura happy again!" Isara further said now crying hysterically.

Welkin could only look on with horror and felt his heart sank. He knew this feeling all too well. His younger adopted sister who was a darcsen, had went through similar bullying when they were kids.

"Listen, can we talk alone?" Welkin asked the principle who himself was rather shocked at what had just transpired.

Alicia soon went to comfort Isara outside the office with Mrs. Ellet.

—

"Did you know that Laura was being bullied because she was a Darcsen?" Welkin asked the principle with a stern expression on his face, it could also be heard in his voice.

"….."

"Please answer my question." Welkin asked again.

The older man took a deep breath.

"Yes. We knew. But we figured it was just kids being kids. That it was nothing too serious." the principle said trying to defend his position on the matter.

Welkin then took a deep breath of his own.

"Nothing too serious? Look, I'm not happy with what my daughter did either, but why didn't you do anything to prevent something like this? Schools are supposed to be a place of learning. Kids should feel safe going to school, they shouldn't be unhappy because of bullying!" Welkin said trying hard to control his composure.

"What would you know about it?" the principle said almost defensive.

"For your information, I work as a teacher in a different school. My younger foster sister was a Darcsen. But she died as a casualty during the war with the empire." Welkin explained.

The principle could only look on in defeat. He then adjusted his glasses a bit.

"We will make sure this doesn't ever happen again. But, we do have a strict policy when it comes to fights on school grounds. Usually the punishments for such things are more severe than this. But I will make an exception this one time. Your daughter is suspended from school for three days until further notice." the principle explained.

Welkin could only admit defeat as well when he heard that.

"…Understood." Welkin replied. He reluctantly shook the principle's hand before he left.

—

Welkin then saw Isara on the bench beside the office alongside Alicia and Mrs. Ellet. She had calmed down after crying but was still a little upset.

"We're going to need to have a long talk when we get home. Okay?" Welkin said gently but sternly to his daughter.

"O-okay." Isara responded.

Welkin then looked to Alicia.

"She's been suspended for three days." Welkin said to Alicia.

—

The family was soon walking home from the school. Alicia and Welkin were silent as they held Isara's hands.

"Am I in trouble?" Isara asked her parents. She seemed nervous and afraid.

Welkin and Alicia looked at each other.

"You're not in trouble with us Isara. But, you won't be going to school for the next three days." Welkin explained to his daughter.

"Isara, I'm upset with what you did but me and your father still love you very much." Alicia further explained.

—

By now the family was seated in the living room. Welkin was going to have a hard time explaining this to Isara but knew that he had to. He couldn't have his daughter getting into fights over stuff like this.

"Listen, Isara-" Welkin proceeded to say.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Who could that be at this hour?" Alicia asked.

Welkin and Alicia walked towards the door and opened it.

"Z-Zaka!?" Welkin said surprised to see an old friend from the war.

"Hey. It's been a while. Sorry, I couldn't come visit at a better time." Zaka said.

"Is Isara okay? I was worried." a young girl beside him asked.

"L-Laura!" Isara said with surprise.

The two girls ran and hugged each other.

"Zaka, You know Laura?" Alicia asked.

"Yeah, she's my niece. I'm glad that she was able to make a friend." Zaka said in his laid back tone.

—

As Laura and Isara played together in the living room, Welkin Alicia & Zaka talked amongst each other about the current predicament.

"So what did the principle say?" Zaka asked Welkin.

"Isara's been suspended for three days. The principle said said he was going to make sure the bullying wouldn't happen again but somehow I doubt it." Welkin explained to Zaka.

"That sounds typical of a lot of the school officials like him. I remember when I was in school, nobody even cared about this let alone say that they were going try and prevent it. You just had to put up with it." Zaka replied.

"Anyway, I think it's important to let your daughter know that violence isn't the answer. This isn't a war after all. It's a time of peace." Zaka explained.

"It's difficult for me…When my sister was bullied I would defend her from it through violence because the kids used to get very cruel with her. But…I don't know. I don't what to do in this situation." Welkin said very concerned.

"Let me help you out. I'm sort of an expert on this subject." Zaka offered.

"It just sounds like you would be. Sure." Welkin said happily.

—

"Hey, I heard you got into a fight at school." Zaka said to Isara.

Isara looked nervously at Zaka she wasn't sure what to say.

"Am I a bad person for doing punching that kid?" Isara asked hesitantly.

"No. No you're not. But listen, violence is never the answer when dealing with bullies. Even when they make you or your friends cry. You're just gonna have to ignore them and be there for each other. It isn't going to be easy but eventually they'll go away if they realize can't hurt you." Zaka explained.

"I…I understand." Isara said meekly.

"Don't be too upset. You made a mistake and you learned from it. Anyhow, I have to get going for now." Zaka said trying to cheer Isara up.

"You sure you can't stay a little longer?" Welkin asked Zaka.

"I'd love to. But I'm really pressed for time today and I have to get Laura back to her family." Zaka explained.

"Hey, Isara, I…wanted to give you this. For being there for me." Laura then said to Isara.

She proceeded to hand Isara a small doll made of thatched fisher-grass.

"It's called a darcsen doll, we give these to people we care about. They're good luck charms designed to protect those we care about. I want you to have one." Laura explained.

"Thank you Laura. I'll treasure it." Isara said smiling clutching the doll to her chest.

The two girls then hugged each other one last time before saying their goodbyes.

—

That night before going to bed, Isara placed the darcsen doll right next to her teddy bear on her bedside. It had been an exhausting and stressful day but Isara learned an important lesson and promised herself that she would never resort to violence again.


	12. Hans

**Author's Note:** This one is going to be sad. Brace yourselves.

 **Hans**

About two weeks had passed since the school incident. Isara managed to ease back into school life pretty easily. She and Laura continued to play at recess while successfully avoiding the bullies. Although it was wrong to do it, Isara couldn't help but feel that punching that boy made the bullying less frequent.

Right now, the Gunther family was at the local veterinarian's office. The family pet, Hans was getting a medical check up.

Hans, a porcavian winged pig, was adopted by Alicia during the Kloden Wildwood mission. She had noticed the little animal all alone weeping. His mother was apparently killed by Imperial soldiers or stray bullets. Alicia quickly became attached to the little animal and decided to adopt him with both her and Welkin naming him Hans.

After the mission, Squad 7 decided to take him in where he was cared for and loved by a lot of the female soldiers. Following the end of the war with the empire, Welkin decided to adopt Hans and he soon became the family pet following Welkin's marriage to Alicia.

When Isara was born, Hans essentially became Isara's playmate. Alicia wound up having three full photo albums of what could only be described as adorable moments with the two.

However, Hans wasn't feeling too well recently. He seemed sluggish whenever he moved around. He was spending numerous days just sleeping or doing nothing and as recent as this past week he was starting to eat less and less.

Welkin had a feeling he knew what was happening but he tried to deny it but his deep knowledge of nature told him otherwise.

The veterinarian, an older woman, soon came out and proceeded to ask to speak with Welkin and Alicia alone.

—

"He's very sick at this point, he most likely has only two weeks of life left at most." the vet said in a very somber tone.

Welkin and Alicia just froze as they heard the news. Hans was diagnosed as having a big tumor in his digestive system that was impossible to operate on.

"Are…are you really sure that you can't save him?" Alicia asked hesitantly.

"Previous operations like this done with this species have always consistently ended in premature death. I'm terribly sorry but there's really nothing we can do." The vet replied.

Welkin and Alicia then went to see Isara. This wasn't going to be easy to explain to her.

"What's wrong?" Isara asked with worry when she saw her parents faces.

"We'll explain when we get home." Welkin replied.

Welkin simply held onto Hans as he and his family walked back home from the vet.

—

When they got home Alicia simply starting crying. She couldn't hold in her emotions anymore at that point and started to pet Hans who was resting on the floor.

Isara became visibly confused upon seeing this. She had no idea what was going on.

"Daddy? Why is mommy crying?" Isara asked her father.

Welkin took a deep breath.

"Isara, Hans is sick. But, he's not going to get better." Welkin explained to his daughter while trying hard to maintain his own emotions.

"Why? What's going to happen to Hans?" Isara asked, she was starting to feel nervous.

"He's going to die Isara." Welkin said, tears were now coming down his face.

Isara became visibly upset at this point.

"No! That's not true! It can't be!" Isara said denying what had just been said to her.

Welkin proceeded to hug his daughter tightly.

"I'm sorry…I really am…We just have to be there for him until…" Welkin said as more tears flowed from his face.

Isara at this point started to cry. She broke free from Welkin's hug and ran to her room.

"…moink…" Hans said weakly.

—

A few hours had passed, Isara was still in her room. Welkin and Alicia had managed to get a hold of their emotions.

"What are we going to do?" Alicia asked Welkin, she wasn't sure if they should have Hans put down to ease his inevitable suffering or to be there for him until the day he dies.

Welkin stood silently for a few seconds until he came to a decision.

"Let's just wait a week. Whatever we do afterwards will depend on how much pain Hans is in." Welkin said.

Welkin took a deep breath and hugged his wife.

"Alicia, I know this is going to be difficult, he's been apart of our lives for so long that it might not be the same without him. But, we have to be strong. Hans might be sick but he can still tell how we're feeling. We have to be there him until the end." Welkin said trying to comfort his wife.

"I know. We should let Isara know what the plan is with this." Alicia replied.

"I'll go check on-" Welkin began to say when…

"Moink…"

Welkin was about to check on his daughter when Hans looked up at him weakly. He seemed to have a look of worry on his expression despite his current condition.

"Are you concerned about Isara too?" Welkin asked Hans.

"Moink! Moink!" Hans replied shaking his head up and down. He seemed almost healthy at that moment. As if nothing was wrong.

Welkin could only smile gently at this.

"Alright, Let's go see if she's alright." Welkin said gently.

—

Isara had managed to calm down and was now laying in her bed, her eyes were red from crying, wondering how to handle everything her father had just told her.

*Knock *Knock*

"Isara…are you okay?" Welkin asked gently as he opened the door.

"I think so…" Isara replied.

"Moink." Hans said chiming in.

Isara soon got out of bed and went up to Hans quietly when she saw him.

She was unsure what to do or even say when Hans snuggled up to Isara, trying to comfort her.

Isara proceeded to hug Hans.

Welkin smiled gently at this, holding back his tears.

—

1 week had passed since the diagnosis and Hans was starting to get worse. He was eating less and less. He was resting more and more yet he moved around less and less.

It was clear what was happening. Sometimes the poor thing couldn't handle being petted because the tumor was hurting him so much.

Eventually, Hans began moaning in pain. It was clear he was in a lot of agony.

It was Welkin who made the difficult choice to have Hans put down.

"I'm sorry. But I don't want his last moments of life to be suffering in this much pain. I want his last moments to be peaceful, surrounded with his family." Welkin explained to his family holding back his emotions. He was upset but he knew they had no other options.

—

It was raining as they headed to the Veterinarian's office. When they got there they had the arrangements made for it to be done. Isara was visibly upset, she sobbed as she hugged Hans gently as everything was being set up.

"moi…moink…" Hans said weakly, it was clear the pain was getting worse.

Alicia also began to sob as the preparations were being finalized.

"This is how it works, we inject this medicine first, it will numb out all the pain he's feeling. After you say your goodbyes, we'll inject this which will put him to sleep." The vet explained to Welkin.

"How long does it take for the medicine to take effect?" Welkin asked.

"At least 5 minutes." The vet further explained to Welkin.

"Oh…" Welkin replied, he was having a hard time getting prepared for this mentally.

"If you're ready, we can begin." the vet said.

Welkin then proceeded to take a deep breath.

"Alright…Isara, Alicia…it's time." Welkin said in a somber tone.

After all was said and done, Hans was put on a medical table and the numbing medicine was injected.

A few minutes passed and soon Hans stopped moaning in pain.

"I'll give you a few minutes alone." The vet said and soon left the room.

The family then proceeded to say their goodbyes one by one.

"Hey, Hans…Take it easy okay? Don't be afraid…You're going to be seeing your mother very soon." Alicia said gently to Hans, kissing him gently on his head.

Welkin then walked up to Hans.

"Hans, it hurts to say goodbye but we love you very much and we've been grateful to have had you in our lives." Welkin said gently, caressing Hans' head.

It was now Isara's turn. She walked towards Hans and took a deep breath.

"I love you very much Hans. I'm going to miss you…I hope you have fun in heaven." Isara gently said as she hugged Hans tightly for a few seconds which soon became one minute, tears visible in her eyes.

Eventually the vet came back in. Welkin then nodded, giving the final approval.

Welkin, Alicia & Isara stayed close to Hans petting and caressing him gently as it happened. He died surrounded by the family who loved and cared for him.

—

It was a cold crisp December day in Bruhl. Although it wasn't snowing yet, the feeling of the holidays was in full motion.

Outside the Gunther family home stood a grave for Hans that they had made for him a few days following his death. Isara stood out there in the cold in front of it. She wasn't handling Hans' death very well. Welkin and Alicia were starting to worry.

"Hey…Isara, do you want see something? I think it'll cheer you up." Welkin said gently to Isara.

"No thanks…" Isara said meekly.

"Isara, if you stay outside long enough you're going to catch a cold. It'll make Hans sad if you get sick at a time like this." Welkin then gently said trying to get Isara to come inside.

Isara reluctantly got up and went inside.

—

"What's Mommy looking at?" Isara asked. She saw her mother's warm smile as she was looking at a book.

"Hey, Isara, would you like to see this photo album?" Alicia asked her daughter gently.

"A photo album?" Isara asked her mother slightly curious.

"Yep, it's a book filled with pictures." Alicia said.

"Do you wanna look at it together?" Welkin asked his daughter.

"Okay…" Isara replied.

—

The family was now sitting at the couch together. Isara looked at the pictures. Most of them were of her and Hans playing together. Welkin and Alicia just looked at the pictures quietly with feelings of warmth when all of a sudden…

"I remember this!" Isara then bolted out, pointing to a picture of Welkin on the ground being licked by Hans out of sheer affection.

"That's when we were painting that garage with the big tank in it! Hans came in and he got his head stuck in an empty paint can!" Isara then said explaining what she remembered from that day.

"Oh, yeah…Welkin had to get him out. You were begging him to be gentle because you thought it would hurt him…" Alicia said giggling a little.

"Hans looked really happy when he had the paint can removed." Isara said looking at the photo.

Isara giggled a little bit then noticed another photo.

"Is that Hans eating cake?" Isara asked.

"That was during your 3rd birthday! We had gotten this really nice cake made from a baker I befriended during my bakery exam. Hans couldn't stop looking at it when it arrived." Alicia said thinking about that time.

"He wound up eating half the cake afterwards…" Welkin said remembering Hans' occasional big appetite that he had.

"Really? That's funny!" Isara said giggling loudly at the thought of it.

"Are you feeling better?" Welkin asked Isara gently.

"Yes! Yes I am." Isara replied smiling.

"I'm glad." Welkin said warmly and hugged Isara.

"Isara, this is how we move on when a loved one dies. We remember all the good times we had together. Hans may be gone but he lives on in all out hearts and these memories we have of him." Welkin said comforting his daughter.

"I see…" Isara said at last finding comfort in her father's words.

"Can we look at more pictures?" Isara said asked.

Welkin and Alicia could only smile happily at their daughter's question.

"Of course." Alicia replied gently.

The rest of the night was spent looking at picture after picture and remembering all the wonderful memories that had together as a family with Hans.


	13. The Winter Circus

**Author's Note:** I'm back with a new chapter. Hope everyone enjoys this one!

 **The Winter Circus**

It was gently snowing in the small town of Bruhl, usually at this time the residents would stay home to keep warm throughout the winter, but today was an exception and not just because it wasn't as cold as usual.

A traveling winter circus and carnival was stopping by on the outskirts of the town and everyone from young couples to families were going there to enjoy a good time.

Welkin and Alicia were also going, hoping to cheer up their daughter Isara a little bit more following the death of the family pet Hans. The young girl seemed to be looking forward to enjoying herself at the place.

"Are there gonna be clowns there daddy?" Isara asked her father as they walked near the entrance.

"Yes. I think a group of them are going to be performing here actually." Welkin replied.

"Really? Can we see them perform? Please mommy?" Isara begged innocently.

"Of course we can." Alicia replied gently.

Isara could only squeal in joy. She had heard about a group of performing clowns called the Dancing Bears in school and that they were going to perform here. Not only that but Isara really wanted to see a clown in person.

After paying for the admission tickets, the family then entered the carnival.

—

Welkin and Alicia could only look on warmly as their daughter looked with wide eyed excitement as she observed her surroundings.

There were a variety of unique games, snack stands selling all kinds of candy, a corn maze covered in snow, and of course, a large red and white tent.

"Well Isara, What would you like to do first?" Welkin asked his daughter gently.

Isara put her finger on her chin thinking about what she wanted to do first. But before she could even come up with an answer she saw someone familiar.

"Marina!" Isara squealed in joy as she ran towards her.

"Isara! Don't run so fast!" Alicia said running after her daughter.

"I-Isara!?" Marina replied in surprise as she got a surprise hug from Isara.

"Hey Marina." Welkin said greeting Marina. They hadn't seen each other since Isara's 5th birthday party.

"Hi Welkin. It's been a while, hasn't it? " Marina said warmly. This seemed to shock both Welkin and Alicia a little bit, he didn't remember Marina being this friendly at all. She was even smiling!

"What are you doing at the carnival?" Alicia asked Marina with a little curiosity.

"Well…" Marina tried to explain as she blushed a little.

"Hey Marina! I'm back with the ice cream! Don't worry about it melting though! They don't call this place the winter circus for nothing!" a young man said as walked towards Marina.

"Oh! Thanks!" Marina said as she received a cone with vanilla favored ice cream.

"Hey! You're blushing a little." he then said as he observed Marina a little closer.

Marina could fluster a little in embarrassment.

Welkin could only look surprised.

"Ted!" He said recognizing one of his former scouts from Squad 7, Ted Ustinov.

"Welkin! Is that you!? Long time no see!" Ted exclaimed.

"How've you been? It's been a while." Welkin asked.

"Fantastic. I'm now a clown with a performance troupe I founded with some of my close pals!" Ted explained with sincere upbeat enthusiasm.

"That's so cool! Are you performing here?" Alicia then asked.

"Yep! Not only that…" Ted said as he held Marina's hand.

"…I have the cutest girlfriend ever!" Ted then exclaimed.

Marina cheeks blushed a deep red within seconds upon Ted saying that.

"Wait? You two are dating!? How did that even happen!?" Alicia exclaimed. Back in the day she had recalled Ted always trying to make Marina laugh in various ways but she seemed to just ignore it.

Marina then regained her composure from blushing.

"After Isara's birthday party, I traveled around Gallia for a little bit thinking it would open my mind more to the world around me. One day I stopped by a circus much like this and saw Ted performing with his friends." Marina explained warmly.

"Yep! You actually laughed at some of the jokes!" Ted exclaimed taking pride.

"We didn't even recognize each other until the show was over. You were so shocked that I was there let alone laughing at your jokes." Marina then said.

"That's not entirely true! I was proud and happy!" Ted said a little embarrassed now.

"Well, regardless, we started seeing each other a little bit after that. Now I'm traveling with him as he performs at various places." Marina said warmly and gently, her voice completely free of the distantness she usually had.

"Along with your pet fox as well! Let me tell ya something, I've never seen an animal like that so well behaved!" Ted exclaimed.

"He has a name Ted." Marina said giggling a little.

"Either way, I'm glad for you Marina. You seem happier." Welkin said.

"I really am. It actually feels good not being alone." Marina admitted.

"What's going on? Do you all know each other?" Isara said with confusion.

Ted proceeded to bend down so he was at Isara's height.

"Hello there! You must be Welkin and Alicia's daughter, Isara." Ted said gently.

"Yep! That's me! Do you know my mommy and daddy?" Isara said giggling a little.

"Yeah! We were friends back in the day." Ted replied.

"Really? That's so cool! Do you know if there are going to be any clowns here?" Isara then asked.

"Actually I am a clown! Not only that I'm a member of, no, the founding member of the Dancing Bears!" Ted exclaimed.

Isara just beamed with surprise and excitement at this point. More so than usual.

"Really!? All the kids at my school are talking about you guys! They think you're really funny!" Isara said gleaming with joy.

"Is that so? Do you like clowns Isara?" Ted then asked.

"Yep! I've always wanted to see a clown in person!" Isara exclaimed with joy.

"Well, I hope you can come see me and my friends perform in an half hour! I can reserve front row seats for you and your parents right now if you want!" Ted then said.

"I'd love to!" Isara said with excitement.

"That'll be great! Thanks so much!" Welkin exclaimed accepting the offer.

"You're welcome!" Ted said.

—

After parting ways with Marina and Ted for the time being, Welkin, Alicia and Isara were now looking around trying to decide on what to do in the meantime before the show.

"What do you want to do Isara?" Welkin asked.

Isara then noticed something. It was game booth of some sort where you had to knock over a stack of cans by throwing a ball to win a prize.

"Can I play it please?" Isara asked her mother.

"Sure. I don't see why not." Alicia said gently.

The man running the game booth explained that you had three chances to knock over the cans as he set up the game. If you knock over all of them you win a prize of your choice.

Isara was handed a white ball and soon eyed the stack. She threw the ball as hard she could at it but she missed.

She was then handed another ball, she threw it at the stack of cans, but again it missed the stack of cans.

"This is hard…" Isara said slightly annoyed.

"Don't worry, Isara. It's just a game." Welkin said trying to comfort his daughter.

"I know daddy…" Isara replied.

Isara was handed one more ball, she held it for a few seconds tightly before finally throwing it.

She knocked over all the cans with one hit from the ball this time around.

"Congrats little girl! You're a winner! What prize would you like?" The man exclaimed.

Isara immediately pointed to a stuffed dark brown teddy bear that looked twice as big as the one she owned.

"I want that one please!" Isara exclaimed.

The man then reached and gave Isara the prize.

As the family walked away from the game, Isara then handed Alicia the stuffed teddy bear she had won.

"For me?" Alicia said a little confused.

"No, it's for the baby, mommy. I hope he or she likes it." Isara explained.

Alicia nearly got teary-eyed when her daughter said that. Isara was really looking forward to becoming an older sister and wanted to give her younger sibling a gift before it was even born. She proceeded to give Isara a soft hug.

"I'm sure he'll love it Isara." Alicia replied gently.

—

Soon afterwards, the time for the show to begin was starting to get closer and closer. Welkin, Alicia and Isara soon approached the red and white tent where the Ted's comedy troupe would be performing. Marina was there waiting for them to arrive.

"You're just in time! He's about to start in 5 minutes!" Marina said as she greeted the Gunthers in front of the tent.

Isara had a wide gleaming smile as she and her family was escorted to three front row seats that had been reserved just for them.

"You sure look really excited." Welkin said observing his little girl.

"Of course I am daddy!" Isara said bluntly but with a very happy look on her face.

Welkin could only smile gently at his daughter.

After a few minutes, the show started, Ted and his friends appeared on the stage in basic clown costume attire and makeup as well as classic round red noses. They even wore polar bear ear headbands.

Isara looked on with pure joy and delight as they appeared on stage.

They soon began to interact and tell a series of cheesy but adorable jokes. A lot of the kids in the audience were already laughing and giggling, Isara included.

—

The show was now almost over. Isara was completely enjoying herself and the show that Ted and his friends were putting on for the audience.

Towards the very end of the show Ted pulled out a beautiful thorn-free red rose from one of the pockets on his clown outfit. The kids in the audience gasped with amazement as he did.

He then proceeded to approach the front row and handed little Isara the rose.

Isara just seemed to glow with pure joy and happiness on her face as this happened.

—

The audience stood up and applauded as the show concluded.

Soon after much of the audience cleared the tent, Ted, now wearing his casual attire, appeared to greet Isara and her family along with Marina.

"Hey there, did you enjoy the show?" Ted said to Isara.

"I enjoyed it very much! Thank you for the rose!" Isara said cheerfully.

"You're welcome! Are you sure you can't stay longer?" Ted then asked Welkin and Alicia.

"We'd love to. But it's starting to get late." Welkin explained.

Isara then approached and hugged Marina.

"I hope you come to my 6th birthday party!" Isara said as she said goodbye to Marina.

"Don't worry. I haven't forgotten Isara. I intend to keep my promise." Marina responded gently.

—

After saying their goodbyes to Ted and Marina, the Gunthers began to walk back home, Isara was starting to drift off to sleep as Welkin carried her on his back. Alicia was holding on to the teddy bear that Isara had won as a prize.

"I thought it was so sweet that Isara got this for him." Alicia said gently to Welkin.

"Yeah, she's really looking forward to being a big sister isn't she?" Welkin replied.

"She really is. I can see it in her eyes Welkin." Alicia said gently.

It had been a wonderful day out in spite of the cold weather, They had reunited with Marina, Isara enjoyed a fun time at the circus and also managed to get a gift for her soon to be younger sibling.


	14. 6th Birthday Party

**Author's Note :** I've finally finished another chapter! I hope everyone enjoys it. Sorry it took so long for this to come out, my personal life has been really busy and disorganized. Also, if it isn't too much trouble, I would really appreciate more reviews. I love getting feedback be it positive or negative.

 **6th Birthday Party**

It was a busy day in the Gunther household. Welkin and Alicia were working around the clock to prepare for Isara's 6th birthday tomorrow, hanging decorations up, getting ingredients ready for bread and cake as well as getting a birthday gift.

"So who's coming this year?" Welkin asked Alicia as they prepared to go to bed after an exhausting day.

"Well, Largo & Varrot can't make it this year sadly. But I managed to invite Marina and Ted, Zaka and Laura, Leon and Kreis, Rosie, Oh and Claudia as well." Alicia responded.

"You invited Claudia? I didn't knew you two stayed in touch." Welkin responded with a little surprise. Claudia Mann was one of the engineers who served in Squad 7 during the war. Welkin recalled she was a bit clumsy but a good-hearted young lady.

"Yep. Apparently she's a nurse now." Alicia explained.

"I see…" Welkin responded with slight curiosity.

Suddenly the bedroom door creaked opened. Isara stood there holding her teddy bear, she seemed bothered by something.

"What's wrong Isara? Did you have a bad dream?" Alicia asked her daughter gently.

"No…Can you read me a bedtime story please Mommy? I can't sleep…" Isara asked meekly as she clutched onto her teddy bear.

Alicia could only smile warmly at Isara's request.

"Of course." Alicia responded.

—

 _A few days earlier…_

Claudia had just gotten home from the hospital where she worked at. She was mainly in charge of janitorial work despite being a certified nurse. She felt frustrated, even though it was her 1st month on the job, She didn't even get one chance to prove herself as a nurse to the staff.

"If only the hospital trusted me…" Claudia said to herself out loud as she looked through her mail.

She was casually shifting through the envelopes when she noticed a name she recognized, Alicia Gunther. She remembered Alicia as one of her friends she had during her service to Squad 7 during the war.

She quickly opened the envelope and read the letter.

 _Dear Claudia,_

 _I hope you've been alright since the war ended. Anyway, our daughter's turning six years old. Welkin & I are celebrating with a birthday party. You're invited if you wish to come. I know you've been busy working as a nurse but we hope you can come._

 _Regards,_

 _Alicia Gunther_

Claudia was stunned. She had never been invited to a birthday party before. Part of her wanted to go, but part of her didn't want to go. She always felt she was cursed with some form of bad luck and felt like a burden on other people.

After thinking about it for a while, She made the decision to actually go.

"Looks like I'll have to go find a birthday gift." Claudia said smiling to herself.

—

"Mommy, when are the guests coming?" Isara asked her mother.

"They should be here soon sweetie. Just wait a little bit okay." Alicia responded gently.

"Okay…" Isara responded meekly. She was starting to get a little bored.

"Is everything ready Alicia?" Welkin asked his wife.

"Yep. Everything's prepared. All that's left is the guests!" Alicia responded.

"Hey, daddy, what did you get me for my birthday?" Isara asked her father innocently.

Welkin kneeled down so that he was at his daughter's height.

"Sorry, Isara, it's a surprise." he responded gently.

Soon afterward, there was a few knocks at the door.

"I'll get it." Welkin said.

Welkin quickly went to the door and opened it. Zaka and Laura were the first to arrive.

"Hey there, I'm glad you two could make it." Welkin said greeting both of them.

"Hey, glad I could come." Zaka replied in his laid back voice.

"Laura!" Isara squealed as she and her friend hugged.

"Happy Birthday Isara!" Laura replied.

As Laura and Isara began playing in the backyard, the second guest soon arrived.

"Hey, what's up?" Rosie said greeting both Welkin and Alicia.

"We've been doing wonderful." Welkin said.

"I see the kid made a friend. Is she from school?" Rosie said observing Isara.

"Yep. She's Zaka's niece actually." Alicia said.

"W-what? I didn't know that at all…" Rosie replied with a little shock.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Zaka responded chiming in.

Rosie could only blush a little in embarrassment.

—

Soon afterwards, two more guests arrived.

"Hey Welkin! Alicia! Where's the birthday girl at?" Ted said greeting Welkin and Alicia.

"She's playing in the backyard with her friend right now" Welkin said.

"Ah, I see. Whoa Alicia! Are you having another child or something?" Ted said with a little shock noticing Alicia's slightly swollen abdomen.

"Yep…Soon Isara is going to be a big sister." Alicia responded warmly.

"Marina! You kept your promise!" Isara said with joy as she soon ran up and tackle hugged Marina.

"I-Isara!" Marina replied with surprise as she feel to the ground.

Isara giggled as she hugged Marina.

"Awww….You're blushing." Ted said teasing his girlfriend a little.

Marina simply swallowed her pride as she hugged Isara back.

"Happy 6th birthday Isara." Marina replied softly.

"Come on Isara, let's play hide and seek now!" Laura said from the backyard.

"Coming!" Isara said as she ran over to her friend.

—

"Welkin, Bro! It's great to see you again!" Leon said greeting Welkin and Alicia.

"Hey Leon! It's great to see you too." Welkin replied.

"Welkin, Alicia, how's everything been? I heard you're having another child." Kreis asked.

"Yeah, it's been a little busy, but Isara is really looking forward to becoming an older sister." Alicia replied warmly as she rubbed her stomach.

"Hey, bro, I managed to get a really nice gift for Isara while I was traveling across Europa." Leon said almost holding in his excitement.

"Oh yeah that's right. You're a competitive racer now! You've got to tell us which countries you've been to!" Welkin responded.

"Which ones are you curious about?" Leon asked Welkin.

"Any of them really, I'm just curious about how the nature in those nations differ from Gallia." Welkin replied.

"Oh, Welkin, you never change…" Alicia responded with slight embarrassment.

—

The Gunther household was soon a full house of people talking amongst each other.

"Are you sure you invited Claudia? She hasn't arrived yet." Welkin asked Alicia.

Soon afterwards, a door knock was heard at the front.

"I'll get it." Alicia said as she walked towards the door and opened it.

"H-hey, hope I'm not too late, I missed my initial train ride so I had to wait for the 2nd train arrival." Claudia said almost anxious.

"Claudia! You came! It's great to see you again!" Alicia said greeting her.

"You-you're not concerned that I'm late?" Claudia asked.

"Of course not. You're here now aren't you? That's what matters." Alicia responded with a blank but confused expression.

"Oh, okay…" Claudia responded.

"Oh? Is that a first aid kit?" Alicia asked with curiosity noticing the white box Claudia was holding along with the present.

"Oh, I tend to be very clumsy, so I always bring this with me in case I trip or something." Claudia responded.

—

As everyone continued to talk among each other, Welkin sat next to Claudia who was just casually sitting on a couch by herself.

"So, Claudia, how's working at the hospital been like?" Welkin asked Claudia.

Claudia froze for a few seconds before responding.

"Not very good to be honest, I'm a certified nurse but it took me a couple times to pass the exam. So I'm stuck doing janitorial work until they feel that I'm trustworthy. It's frustrating to be honest. I want to be useful to the hospital but I feel like they don't really trust me." Claudia responded.

"Oh, I see. You shouldn't really worry about it too much. During the war a lot of the people in my squad didn't trust me initially until I pulled off a successful mission. You just have to prove yourself in a way." Welkin explained trying to cheer Claudia up.

"You really think I can prove myself to the hospital?" Claudia replied almost looking optimistic.

"Well, of course you can, anything is possible if you-" Welkin said before the sound of crying and sobbing interrupted them.

Welkin quickly stood up. He recognized the sound immediately, the crying was coming from his daughter, Isara.

"What's wrong?" Welkin said with concern running over to Alicia.

Alicia was busy comforting Isara as she explained to Welkin, "She and Laura were playing at the outskirts of the woods nearby when Isara tripped and scraped her knees."

"It hurts mommy…and it's bleeding." Isara said weeping, tears coming down her face.

"There, there, it's alright…" Alicia said comforting her.

Claudia soon walked towards the family.

"Hey, are you okay? Luckily I come prepared for these sort of things." Claudia said in a soft tone to Isara as she quickly opened her first aid kit.

First, she cleaned the blood off of Isara's knees.

"Now this might sting for a moment." Claudia said as she then got some anti-infection medicine ready.

She then dabbed the medicine onto Isara's knees. Isara winced a little bit as she felt a brief moment of pain.

Claudia then got some bandages and gently places them on Isara's knees.

"There, all done! Are you feeling better?" Claudia asked.

Isara quickly smiled.

"I do! Thank you so much!" Isara said as she hugged Claudia.

Claudia smiled gently but felt nervous, she wasn't used to this kind of praise before.

—

Soon afterwards, it was time for birthday cake. Like last year it was vanilla flavored but served with some of Alicia's freshly baked bread this time around.

As soon as the candles were placed on the cake, Rosie soon sang a birthday song for Isara. The same one she had sung for her last year.

"Don't forget to make a wish Isara." Welkin said gently.

"Don't worry daddy, I already have one." Isara replied gently.

She then blew out the candles on the cake.

"Oh, by the way, You have a really pretty singing voice Rosie! How do you do it?" Isara said with curiosity.

"Uhhh….Thanks and it's a secret." Rosie said blushing a little, she wasn't used to this kind of praise from children.

"Sounds like someone isn't used to compliments." Zaka said chiming in.

—

The cake was then served to the guests. Claudia decided to try out the bread first before eating her cake slice.

"This is delicious!" Claudia said with joy as she took a bite of the bread.

"I know! Isn't mommy's bread great?" Isara said chiming in.

"It is!" Claudia replied.

"If you want some to take home I can make more if you want." Alicia offered Claudia.

"Thank you. I'll consider it." Claudia responded.

"Hey, Isara wanna play more?" Laura asked.

"Sure!" Isara replied.

The two girls went outside to play a little bit more.

"Be careful not to get hurt again!" Alicia said.

—

Soon afterwards, it was time for the presents. Isara looked very excited to open all of them.

"Hey open ours first Isara!" Laura exclaimed handing Isara a uniquely shaped gift-wrapped box.

Isara opened it. The gift that Laura and Zaka gave her was the Enigma Box, a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle.

"Hey, I don't think this has even been released into stores yet. How'd you get one?" Welkin asked with innocent curiosity.

"Well, I did design it at the toy factory I work at in Fouzen." Zaka said

"Wait, you work at a toy factory now?" Rosie said a little surprised.

"Yeah and I design toys there for a living now." Zaka responded.

"Isara, I hope you like it. That toy is going to be in stores two weeks from now. You're basically the first child to have one." Zaka explained to Isara.

"I like it a lot! Thank you Laura & Zaka!" Isara replied with joy.

Isara looked around at the pile of presents and picked one. This one was from Leon and Kreis.

Leon had gotten Isara a rather unique looking toy plane.

"It looks different than the last one." Isara said observing the gift.

"It's not just any toy plane, it's small replica of a plane they're making in this nation I visited! Rumor has it that it's being designed for passengers so that people can easily go to faraway nations easier and faster. Think of it like a train in the sky." Leon explained to Isara.

"Really? That's amazing! Thank you so much!" Isara exclaimed as she hugged both Leon and Kreis.

"Isn't she just the cutest thing in the world?" Leon whispered to Kreis.

"I'm aware of that." Kreis said.

"Oh, how about this one?" Isara said as she picked out another present from the pile.

"Oh, that one's mine." Rosie said.

Isara opened it up and looked a little confused.

"Ummm…what is it?" Isara asked with confusion but with curiosity as well.

"It's a microphone. Well, it's not exactly the type you sing into while on stage, it's more a type you see in radio stations. I got it while visiting another nation and the owner of the radio station I visited insisted on giving it to me." Rosie explained.

"Really? That's amazing! Thank you Rosie!" Isara said.

"Your welcome kiddo." Rosie replied.

"This one next! this one next!" Isara said with excitement.

"That's ones ours! Hope you like it!" Ted said with enthusiasm.

Isara quickly opened it up and smiled.

"It's a clown outfit and a red nose!" Isara said with joy.

"Yep! It was mine when I was younger. I hope it brings lots of laughter to you!" Ted explained.

"I like it a lot! Thank you!" Isara said she hugged both Ted & Marina.

"Wow! An actual clown outfit! You've been getting lots of nice presents Isara." Welkin said gently.

"Oh! Oh! Daddy! Put the red nose on!" Isara said with excitement.

"Eh? Why?" Welkin asked slightly confused.

"I just want to see what it looks like on you. Pretty please daddy?" Isara asked with an adorable pouty face.

"Well…Alright…" Welkin said.

He put the red nose on only to make a goofy looking face with his tongue sticking out.

Isara started to laugh out loud as did the entire room.

"Way to go Lt. Clown Nose!" Leon said.

Welkin's face simply turned a shade of deep red with embarrassment.

"Thank you daddy. That was really funny!" Isara said as she hugged her father.

"Anything for you. Oh! Here's your present by the way!" Welkin said handing Isara his gift for her.

"What did you get me?" Isara asked with excitement while opening up the gift.

"It's a encyclopedia book on flowers! I hope you like it!" Welkin replied.

"Yep. Daddy insisted on getting that for you while we were at the bookstore." Alicia said chiming in.

"I love it! Thank you mommy and daddy!" Isara squealed as she hugged her parents.

All that remained was Claudia's gift.

"Umm…I hope you really like it, I felt my gift should come from the heart so I found something similar to that." Claudia said handing Isara her birthday present.

Isara slowing opened up the gift and gasped real loud when she saw it.

"Is this that doctor thing that allows you to listen to heartbeats!?" Isara said surprised.

"Y-yes, It's called a stethoscope. It belonged to me while I was training as a nurse. Do you like it?" Claudia asked almost sweating from nervousness.

"I LOVE IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH!" Isara squealed real loud as she tackle hugged Claudia.

Claudia was taken off guard that Isara not only liked the gift but had tackled hugged her. But, she felt really relieved and happy.

"I'm glad you really like it." Claudia replied.

—

After a while the birthday party began to wind down into the evening and nighttime. Soon everyone waved their goodbyes and left.

"I hope you had fun Laura!" Isara said hugging her friend goodbye.

"I did! Happy birthday Isara!" Laura said.

All that remained was Claudia.

"Ummm…Can I have some bread to take home?" Claudia asked Alicia.

"Of course. I'll be right back." Alicia replied.

"Hey Welkin…what were you saying earlier about anything is possible?" Claudia asked Welkin while she waited for the bread.

"What do you mean?" Welkin asked slightly confused.

"You said I could prove myself to the hospital. Is that really possible?" Claudia asked.

"Claudia, anything is possible if you put your mind to it and you really want to accomplish something. Look at how you helped out Isara earlier today, she got hurt and you helped her out. You didn't need approval for that, you did what you had to do to help out. If you did that at the hospital with that kind of confidence and gentle kindness, I'm sure you can prove yourself." Welkin explained gently to Claudia.

Claudia simply smiled. It all made sense to her now.

"Thank you Welkin." Claudia replied.

"Here's the bread! Is 5 enough?" Alicia asked handing Claudia a brown bag full of bread.

"It is! Thanks Alicia!" Claudia responded.

"You're leaving now?" Isara said.

"Yep. I gotta go now. Are your knees okay from earlier? Claudia asked gently.

"Yeah! They are! Thanks for the gift Claudia!" Isara said hugging Claudia.

"Your welcome. Happy birthday Isara." Claudia said. She then left for home.

—

"Hey Mommy, can I try out that doctor thing before I go to bed?" Isara asked.

"Sure…who do you want try it out on?" Alicia asked Isara gently.

"Right there. I want to hear the baby's heartbeat." Isara said gently pointing to Alicia's stomach.

All Alicia could do was smile gently at her daughter's request. "Okay, let's give it a try." She said warmly.

Isara quickly put the earpieces in and placed the round part of the stethoscope on Alicia's abdomen when…

"I hear it Mommy! I hear it!" Isara said all of sudden while jumping with joy.

"Y-you do?" Alicia said almost taken back a bit.

"Yes! Please hear for yourself mommy!" Isara said giving earpiece part of the stethoscope to Alicia.

Alicia put the earpieces in and got teary-eyed with what she heard.

 _Bu-bump…bu-bump…bu-bump…bu-bump..._

She could faintly hear the heartbeat of the little child growing inside of her.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Isara said noticing her mother wiping tears away.

"Yes. I'm just really happy Isara." Alicia replied softly.

"Hey, let's have daddy listen too!" Isara said energetically.

"Yeah, good idea. Let's have daddy listen as well." Alicia said gently.

It had been a wonderful day. Isara had gotten plenty of wonderful gifts and Alicia got to listen to the heartbeat of Isara's soon to be younger sibling.


	15. The Day She Was Born

**Author's Note:** Another chapter has been finished! I hope everyone enjoys this one.

 **The Day She Was Born**

It was late at night in the Gunther household. As Isara slept fast asleep in her room, Welkin and Alicia were busy at work preparing a small room that had been vacant for quite some time in the household. They had just finished painting the walls of the room a sky blue color similar to that of Gallia's national flag.

"It's really going to happen soon isn't it?" Welkin asked his wife after putting what was left of the painting supplies in the shed where the Edelweiss was.

"Yep, the doctor said he'll probably be here by next week." Alicia responded gently.

"Is that so?" Welkin replied. "Well, then next week can't come soon enough."

"We sure got a lot of work done today. All the room needs is a crib and it'll be ready for him." Alicia said gently looking at the painted room

"I know you're sure it's going to be boy, but have you thought of a name?" Welkin asked his wife with curiosity.

"I was hoping to discuss that with you after we were done." Alicia replied.

"Well…I was thinking…" Welkin started.

"What? Did you already think of a name? Alicia asked.

"Well…I was thinking if he does turn out to be a boy, I was thinking we could name him Belgen." Welkin finally said.

Alicia just stood there silent.

"Wasn't that your father's name?" Alicia asked with curiosity.

Welkin took a deep breath.

"I want to honor him in some way after all these years. He always taught me to make my own decisions in life, he never forced his own personal beliefs or hopes onto me or Isara. When I was 13, I was starting to become aware of this and yet he was always hard on himself as a way to cope with his grief of losing my mother during the first Europan war. I wanted to tell him how I felt about this, that I wanted him to be happy and thank him for allowing me to become what I am today." Welkin explained.

"Did you ever tell him how you really felt?" Alicia asked.

"I didn't. That day I realized all of this and what I wanted to tell him wasn't the best of times, he was very sick with illness to the point of being bed ridden. I felt maybe tomorrow he would probably feel better and I would tell him everything then. He died the very next day." Welkin said in a somber tone.

"Oh…" Alicia replied.

"I've always regretted not being able to tell him how I felt. This just feels like the only thing I can do to thank him for everything. To honor him. But at the same time, I don't know if I really want to do that." Welkin explained further.

Alicia took a deep breath.

"Remember right before when Isara was born, you felt the exact same way. You shouldn't doubt yourself about these things, just do what you think is best." Alicia replied to Welkin with comfort.

At that very point, Welkin began to think back to the night his daughter was born.

—

 _6 years ago…_

"Alicia…Can we talk?" Welkin asked his wife hesitantly. Alicia had just finished cleaning the kitchen after a wonderful dinner.

"Sure, is there a problem?" Alicia asked.

Welkin didn't know how to explain this. He was starting to feel serious doubt about naming their child after his adopted younger sister, Isara. He was starting to think back about all the pain and suffering he felt about not being able to save when her she died, about having to hold in his emotions to maintain morale among Squad 7 for three whole weeks, about her not ever living to see Gallia free again. Everything. Is this how his father felt when he lost the love of his life? If so, Welkin respected father much more than he already did.

"I…I…I don't think I want to name our child Isara." Welkin said bluntly.

Alicia just stood stunned. Welkin himself had suggested the name when they found out she was pregnant. What could've changed his mind? Alicia then saw the depressed, stoic look on his face. It was the same one Welkin had after Isara died, the one he had put for three whole weeks between the time she died and before they reclaimed Bruhl during the war.

"Welkin…You've been thinking about her a lot, haven't you?" Alicia asked Welkin.

"I can't help but think about it. I'm almost terrified about this, I don't want to look at my daughter and be reminded of all the pain I went through when she died. I want to be able to love her and be happy everyday just to be with her. I don't want to end like my father always beating himself up and depressed because he couldn't save his wife. I can't do that to my daughter! I want my daughter…to have a happy childhood…without having to have her daddy be constantly upset about things he couldn't have prevented…" Welkin explained on the verge of tears.

Alicia quickly went over and hugged Welkin tightly.

"Alicia, I'm sorry, I-I just need some time alone." Welkin said regaining his composure and control over his emotions.

He quickly went into his study where he read books on nature.

Alicia just stood there worried.

—

Welkin just sat in his study for about an hour reading books on birds, insects, anything to keep his mind occupied from what was bothering him the most. He then turned to look at a photo on his desk. It was a picture of him and Isara when they were younger that was taken years ago. They were both happily smiling in the photo.

Welkin just looked at the photo.

"I miss you Is…" Welkin said outloud to himself.

All of a sudden he heard his wife scream his name real loud.

Welkin quickly jolted out of the chair he was sitting in and ran toward where Alicia was.

"Alicia! Is something wrong!?" Welkin asked with worry.

Alicia was on her knees and panting heavily.

"Welkin…the car…we have to get to the hospital…" Alicia said in between breaths.

"You mean…?" Welkin said his heart almost skipping a beat.

"Yes, It's time." Alicia said gently with a small smile.

Welkin quickly escorted his wife to a green car that was in the shed and drove as quickly as he could to the local hospital near Bruhl.

—

After arriving, Alicia was quickly escorted to the delivery ward of the hospital. Welkin just stood there in the waiting room awaiting the moment. He stood there in deep thought debating whether or not to name his child after Isara.

Eventually after a few hours, Welkin came to a hesitant conclusion. "I'll either name her Emily or…" Welkin thought out loud to himself when the doctor walked in.

"Mr. Welkin Gunther?" The doctor said.

"Y-yes?" Welkin quickly said breaking out of his deep thought.

"Congratulations! Your wife just gave birth to a healthy baby girl with no complications." The doctor explained gently.

"That's…that's great!" Welkin replied.

As the doctor guided him to the hospital room where Alicia was, Welkin already started to feel a whole bunch of different emotions all at the same time.

He was now officially a father.

—

Welkin walked into the room where his wife was and he walked towards her. Alicia, exhausted from childbirth was holding the newborn infant who was wrapped up in small white blanket in her arms.

"Is she sleeping?" Welkin asked.

"She is. Isn't she adorable?" Alicia said gently.

"Can…can I hold her?" Welkin asked his wife.

Alicia smiled gently.

"Of course." She replied.

Alicia handed Welkin the infant and he saw her face as he cradled her in his arms. He saw her light brown hair, the peaceful look on her face as the infant slept peacefully.

"She's beautiful…she has your hair…" Welkin said gently.

"Yeah, she does." Alicia said agreeing.

Alicia at that point decided to ask him. It was now or never.

"Have you decided on a name?" Alicia asked.

At that point, Welkin's eyes started to well up in tears, he knew it would be a wonderful feeling but he didn't even know how to possibly describe this.

This was truly the happiest day of his life.

"I think I'll name her…Isara." Welkin said as tears rolled down from his face.

"You mean…" Alicia said as tears began to come down from her face.

"Yes. I've officially decided. We're going to name her Isara." Welkin said as more tears began to roll down his face.

At that point, the little infant slowly began to wake up.

"Alicia! She's waking up!" Welkin said with excitement.

Welkin quickly got closer to Alicia so they could both see her face.

The infant's eyes began to slowly open, revealing her brown eyes. Her little arms reached out to her parents and she began giggling.

Welkin and Alicia began to smile even more as they held out fingers for the little baby grab.

"Welcome to Gallia, Isara." Welkin said gently wiping tears from his eyes.

All that doubt, fear and worry that Welkin had about being reminded of his sister had completely disappeared when he saw his daughter for the first time. He couldn't help but want to name her Isara.

—

"Welkin, are you okay? You look like you're in deep thought." Alicia said observing Welkin sitting at the kitchen table.

Welkin simply smiled gently.

"I'm fine Alicia." Welkin replied.

Before going to bed Welkin walked towards Isara's room and opened the door gently enough to not wake her up.

He smiled gently as he saw Isara sleeping in her bed peacefully. Welkin also noticed that she had forgotten to turn of her lamp before she drifted off to sleep. He walked towards and gently turned off the lamp.

"Sweet dreams, Isara. Daddy loves you very much." Welkin said gently before closing the door.


	16. The 2nd Addition

**Author's Note: ** I'm sorry this took so long. My life has really been busy these past couple of months but this is it, the last chapter. I'd like to thank everyone who read, favorited and reviewed this. It means a lot to me.

 **The 2nd Addition**

It was a busy evening in the Gunther household, Alicia & Welkin were preparing for a big visit to the hospital, specifically the maternity ward, as Alicia was now 9 months pregnant and due any day. Martha, a former housekeeper of the Gunther household when Welkin was a kid, had agreed to babysit Isara in the mean time despite her busy schedule of raising 5 kids of her own.

"Martha, thanks for doing this on such a short notice." Alicia said as Welkin packed some supplies into the car.

"Nonsense. It's the least I could do for old times sake, right Welkies?" Martha replied cheerfully.

"Martha, while I appreciate everything that your doing, but I'm almost 30 now. You don't have to keep calling me that silly nickname." Welkin said clearly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Welkies, but as long as you're embarrassed by it, some things will never change, though maybe if you grew a beard like the one your father had…" Martha replied laughing a little.

Welkin could only sigh in embarrassment as he loaded the last of the supplies into the back of the car.

"Well, that's everything, we're off to the hospital now." Welkin stated.

Welkin then approached his daughter who had been standing right next to Martha.

"Isara, be a good girl for Martha, okay?" Welkin gently said to his daughter.

Isara then gave her father a big hug.

"I will daddy, I can't wait to see the baby." replied Isara in a calm gentle tone.

Welkin simply smiled and patted her daughter's head.

"We'll be back in a few days, Isara. When we come back, you'll be a big sister." Alicia replied now hugging Isara as well.

The family embraced in a group hug for a few seconds, then Welkin and Alicia got into the car and drove off to the hospital.

Isara waved goodbye at the car as it disappeared into the distance.

"So Isara, are you ready for some dinner?" Martha asked.

"Yes please!" Isara replied happily.

—

 _A few days later…_

It was late in the morning, Isara was reading a book in her room and Martha was busy cleaning the kitchen after breakfast when she heard a few knocks at the door.

"That must be them." Martha said to herself as she walked towards the front door. As she opened the door she was greeted to Welkin, Alicia and of course, a baby wrapped comfortably in a sky blue colored blanket in Alicia's arms.

"It's a boy!" Martha said with excitement, congratulating the Gunthers on the new addition to their family.

"Yeah, Alicia wasn't kidding when she said it was going to be a boy. It's a mystery to me how she knew." Welkin replied with a peaceful smile on his face.

"Mother's intuition." Alicia said replying to Welkin's curiosity.

"Awww, he has his father's hair…" Martha said observing the baby as he slept peacefully.

"So, how's Isara been? Was she a good girl?" Welkin asked Martha.

"Oh, She's been a wonderful girl, very well-behaved and kind-hearted. She really likes my cooking too!" Martha said with pride.

"That's good to hear." Welkin said as he and Alicia took a seat at the kitchen.

"Hold on, I'll go get Isara right now, I think it's time for her to meet her little brother for the first time." Martha said and quickly walked to Isara's room.

—

"Isara, come quick! Your parents are home!" Martha said almost barging into Isara's room with excitement.

"They are?" Isara replied with a surprise on her face.

"Yes. They want to show you something I bet you've been waiting for." Martha replied this time more gently this time.

Isara and Martha walked together towards the kitchen where her parents were waiting.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Isara exclaimed as she embraced her father with a hug.

"Hey there! We weren't away too long were we?" Welkin asked her daughter gently.

"Nope, not at all daddy!" Isara replied happily.

"Well, I'd love to stay longer. But I do have my own family to go back to." Martha said.

"Martha, thanks so much for looking out for her while we were gone." Alicia said

"You don't need to thank me so many times. I'll gladly do it again if you ever have another child. Best of luck raising that baby boy Welkies!" Martha said smiling cheerfully.

"Thank you, Martha…" Welkin replied now slightly embarrassed.

—

After wishing Martha farewell as she went home to her family, Welkin went over to Isara.

"Alright, Isara." Welkin said as he motioned for Alicia to come closer.

Alicia then showed her.

"Isara, this is your baby brother, his name is Belgen. You have to be very quiet though, he's sleeping right now." Alicia said with a gentle whisper.

Isara just looked in awe as her little sibling as he slept.

"He's so cute…" Isara said.

"Mommy…"

"Yes, Isara, what is it?" Alicia asked.

"Can…can I hold him in my arms?" Isara asked almost hesitantly.

Both Welkin and Alicia practically got teary-eyed at her question and smiled gently.

"Of course, Isara." Alicia replied.

Alicia gently placed the infant into her daughter's arms as Welkin helped Isara hold him.

"He's kinda heavy…" Isara said.

"Isara, do you promise you two will get along together? He's family now after all." Welkin said to Isara gently.

Isara stood there for a moment.

"Yes, daddy, we'll be best friends forever." Isara replied with tears in her eyes.

The family then embraced with a big family hug observing as the baby slept peacefully when all of a sudden…

The baby's eyes began to slowly open.

"Mommy! Daddy! He's waking up! He's waking up!" Isara said with excitement in both her face and voice.

Welkin and Alicia, however, instead looked on with nervous looks on their faces.

"WAAAAAAAAAHHH, WAAAAAAHHH!"

The baby began to cry. Wailing loudly.

Welkin quickly took the baby out of Isara's arms and began cradling it, trying to calm him down.

Isara simply looked on in shock.

—

 _A few hours later..._

The baby was now sleeping peacefully in the crib that Welkin had built a few weeks ago.

Isara walked towards Alicia who was now quite exhausted and rating on a couch, however, she mustered enough energy to look at Isara who looked visibly upset.

"Isara? Is something wrong?" Alicia asked her daughter gently with a little worry.

"Mommy…does the baby not like me? Why did he start crying?" Isara asked her mother.

Alicia simply got up instinctively and gave her daughter a tight hug.

"Isara…that's not true. When babies are first born they tend to cry a lot, it's just something they do because they've just been born. Everything is new and unknown to them in their eyes, so they tend to be scared a lot. I assure you Isara, it's not your fault." Alicia said comforting and reassuring her daughter.

"Oh…" Isara replied not sure how to really feel.

—

Later that night, Isara was having a hard time sleeping. She couldn't stop thinking about her baby brother.

"How can a baby be scared of everything…" Isara thought to herself.

Her thoughts were quickly shattered when she heard loud crying from outside of her room.

Welkin and Alicia were already alert quickly running towards to bedroom where the baby slept.

Isara just looked on, not even sure what to do when suddenly, she remembered something.

She quickly got out of her bed and went into her bedroom closet and found something special.

—

The baby kept crying as both Welkin and Alicia took turns comforting and cradling the baby, but he wouldn't stop crying.

"I don't understand, he's been like this since he was born. Isara never cried this much." Welkin said now worried.

"You don't think something's wrong, do you? The doctor said he was perfectly healthy!" Alicia said as she cradled the baby in her arms trying to calm him down.

"I'm not sure, but I'm worried. I'll be right back, I'm calling a doctor." Welkin said now almost in panic mode.

At the moment, Isara walked in, holding the stuffed teddy bear she had won in a game at the circus they had visited months earlier.

"I-Isara?" Welkin said.

"Daddy, I want to give something to the baby." Isara said with confidence in her eyes.

Welkin and Alicia simply froze in their steps, knowing immediately what Isara wanted to do.

Alicia gently placed the baby into his crib as he continued crying.

Isara then placed the stuffed toy animal into crib and almost like magic, the baby stopped crying. In fact, he looked almost cheerful as he looked at the stuffed teddy bear that was placed in his crib.

He started to giggle and laugh as he grabbed and hugged it.

Welkin and Alicia simply took a sigh a relief and just smiled gently as the baby started to look more and more cheerful.

After just a few minutes, the baby soon began to finally fall back asleep again.

"He looks so happy…can we stay a little longer and watch?" Isara asked her parents.

Welkin and Alicia looked happily at their daughter.

"We would love to Isara, but I think it's time to for all of us to get some sleep." Welkin said gently.

"Okay, Daddy." Isara replied.

—

As Isara went back to her room, Welkin and Alicia went back to their bedroom.

"Isara is going to be great big sister, I can already tell." Alicia said peacefully.

"Yeah, I feel like our family couldn't be more complete." Welkin said.

"I feel so grateful, for everything since the war ended." Alicia said as she looked at Welkin, now staring into his eyes.

"I love you." Alicia said hugging her husband.

Welkin simply hugged her back. They embraced each other.

"I love you too, Alicia." Welkin replied.

That night felt more peaceful and fulfilling than anything previously in Welkin and Alicia's lives and yet, it still felt to them that the happiness in their lives has only just begun.


End file.
